The building officially opened on November 25, 1957 in a ceremony led by Mayor of New York City Robert F. Wagner Jr.. Before the building opened, it was 80% leased to office tenants including Foster Wheeler, Warner Bros., Revlon, Helene Curtis Industries, Benton & Bowles, Ted Bates & Co, and American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines while Marine Midland Bank operated a branch on the ground floor. Additionally, Prudential Financial had agreed to purchase the building before completion and lease it back to Tishman for 88 years. For many years the building had a distinctive feature of a T-shaped atrium walk-through open to the sidewalks on 52nd Street, 53rd Street and Fifth Avenue with glass storefronts inside the walk-through. This included a bookstore and an Alitalia ticket office designed by Gio Ponti.