Jesse Serwer

Then . . .

The International Magazine Building, as it was first called, began as an idea of William Randolph Hearst to capitalize on what was expected to be a burgeoning extension of the city's theater district along Eighth Avenue. As early as 1906, William Randolph Hearst "was convinced that Columbus Circle would become a focus of commercial and theatrical activity, a successor to Union, Madison, Herald and Times squares in the theaters district's march up Broadway," according to Architecture and Urbanism Between World Wars by Robert A.M. Stern.

At the time, Carnegie Hall and the Arts Students League were already located in the area, and the Metropolitan Opera had recently announced plans to build a new house on 57th Street. That ultimately would fall through.