30 Rockefeller Plaza 22nd tallest in New York City and the 47th tallest in the United States. It stands 400 feet (122 m) shorter than the Empire State Building. 30 Rockefeller Center underwent a $170 million floor-by-floor interior renovation in 2014. The construction of Rockefeller Center occurred between 1932 and 1940 on land that John D. Rockefeller Jr. leased from Columbia University. The Rockefeller Center site was originally supposed to be occupied by a new opera house for the Metropolitan Opera. By 1928, Benjamin Wistar Morris and designer Joseph Urban were hired to come up with blueprints for the house. However, the new
Percy Avery Rockefeller Percy Avery Rockefeller Percy Avery Rockefeller (February 27, 1878 — September 25, 1934) was a board director who founded and was vice president of Owenoke Corporation. Percy was the youngest son of William Avery Rockefeller Jr. and Almira Geraldine Goodsell. He attended Yale University from 1897 to 1900, where he was a member of Skull and Bones. Rockefeller was manager of the 1899 Yale Bulldogs football team and earned a varsity letter for his efforts. He was a board director of Air Reduction Company, American International Corporation, Atlantic Fruit Company, Anaconda Copper Mining Company, Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Bowman Biltmore Hotels