Architect James Edwin Ruthven Carpenter, Jr. (who went professionally as J. E. R. Carpenter) was three years old than his brother, real estate developer James H Carpenter. The two collaborated on several significant Manhattan structures, and in 1930, just months after the Stock Market crash, they embarked on another: a 42-story, $2 million office building at the northeast corner of Madison Avenue and 53rd Street. Completed in 1931, J. E. R. Carpenter's Gothic-inspired Art Deco pile was faced in gray brick above a three-story limestone base. The deeply recessed entrance, flanked with storefronts, sat below a bronze-and-glass marquee and was framed by a gold-veined stone arch, carved with Gothic motifs.
In 1947, the building, which housed the Spanish consulate, was the site of a protest by 700 picketers protesting against the government of Francisco Franco and demanding that the United States end diplomatic relations with Spain.
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Landmarks, Misc, Office, Famous Architects 
