The design of the PSFS Building elicited both early criticism and praise. In the March 1931 issue of "T-Square Club Journal" Elbert Conover said, "The day will come when even in America, we will become skillful enough to meet economic pressure without forcing upon the community such ugliness and illogical designing." The PSFS Building was one of only two U.S. skyscrapers included in the 1932 International style exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. Run by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, the exhibition was where the term International style was coined. The PSFS Building was praised for its cantilevering facade and the building's organization of shops on the first floor, the banking hall on the second floor, offices above and the service tower in the back. Unlike the PSFS Building, the design of the other skyscraper—New York City's McGraw-Hill Building—was more due to necessity of publishing operations and zoning restrictions than following an architectural movement. Hitchcock and Johnson were critical of both building's use of ornamental signage at the top. However, Lescaze and Howe's design was not featured at the 1932 Architectural League of New York Annual Exhibition after the skyscraper was deemed as having an ugly and illogical design. Howe responded by saying "Like all institutions which have become traditional, it tends to resent change."