The building had cost $12 million (), which was not repaid with interest until 1964; the interest was more than twice the original cost. The land alone had cost $6 million. Nevertheless, the structure was expected to save the city from paying $800,000 a year in rent. Upon opening, the Municipal Building housed 4,200 city employees. It was patrolled by a private police force, which monitored the building 24 hours a day, as well as a cleaning crew of 135 people. There were also telephone switchboards for inter-departmental communication, which at the time of completion were described as state-of-the-art. A nonprofit organization established a cafeteria on the 26th floor in 1918; although the city provided no subsidies to the cafeteria, the cafeteria also did not have to pay rent. Radio station WNYC (AM) started broadcasting from the 24th floor in 1924, remaining there for 85 years, and a small hospital was established on the third floor in 1929. The Municipal Building's size notwithstanding, various entities had proposed to build an even larger municipal skyscraper to the west by the 1930s, but with no success.