The NYC Skyscraper Without Windows

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.พ. 2021
  • Why aren't there any windows in this NYC skyscraper? Well the story involves nuclear war, mass surveillance, and secret agents.
    Located in 33 Thomas Street New York, NY. This is the AT&T Long Lines Building.
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ความคิดเห็น • 1.3K

  • @boyfromredhook
    @boyfromredhook ปีที่แล้ว +920

    I’ve been in this building when I was with AT&T. It was originally used for the transatlantic cable project. Needless to say, wireless service was horrible. The freight elevators are massive. When entering the floor we occupied, it was like stepping back to the 60’s.

    • @AckzaTV
      @AckzaTV ปีที่แล้ว +8

      hillcrest sd att

    • @allensandven0
      @allensandven0 ปีที่แล้ว +29

      Some sites look as if they set their coffee down and everyone left and didn’t come back ?
      If I were a architect of that motif…. What were they thinking 🤔

    • @mangobaby_videos
      @mangobaby_videos ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@allensandven0 not sure

    • @Robtuse_
      @Robtuse_ ปีที่แล้ว +62

      I service the air compressors here and it’s an absolute dead zone in the sub basement

    • @alexlabs4858
      @alexlabs4858 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      The AT&T switch building in Denver is like that

  • @jaysworld5378
    @jaysworld5378 3 ปีที่แล้ว +445

    The 131 dislikes are the people who entered this building but were never able to leave.

  • @SeamlesslyAwkwerd
    @SeamlesslyAwkwerd 3 ปีที่แล้ว +755

    A video game titled CONTROL took inspiration from this building. Its brutalist architecture and minimal windows are just so mysterious and haunting. Definitely can see why the building in the video game and its design used this building as its inspiration.

    • @falco.404
      @falco.404 2 ปีที่แล้ว +36

      The oldest house is indeed, after all, in NYC...

    • @mr_whyy
      @mr_whyy 2 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      I saw this building and immediately thought about the FBC and it's weird building

    • @eden20111
      @eden20111 2 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      I wonder if the NSA is housing Polaris in there. I hope so. I have so many questions.

    • @mr_whyy
      @mr_whyy 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @Truth Sorry7 yeah sure ofc, as seen on tv, what else might be going on in there? saw movies ? maybe a whole hunger game in the cave ? but what if it's bruce wayne's tower and it's the batcave ? Maybe spongebob lives there too huh ? who knows, it's the GOVernment !! GuesSigN manNy pEples died inThere.!,

    • @mr_whyy
      @mr_whyy 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @Truth Sorry7 1 answer, cold war. Also if there was a place for such a thing, you would not know about it, think for a minute... Not it Manhattan... I thought conspirationists were a little more intelligent.

  • @subspace2913
    @subspace2913 3 ปีที่แล้ว +253

    A few years back on my trip to NYC I walked past this building and got so confused, and it bothered me ever since then. Thanks for this!

    • @sylviam6535
      @sylviam6535 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I have seen other multi-storey buildings without windows. When you ask, they are always telephone exchanges.

    • @dylanjordan4747
      @dylanjordan4747 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      why didn’t you just google it

    • @subspace2913
      @subspace2913 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@dylanjordan4747 'twas a wee child

    • @spopple88
      @spopple88 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@dylanjordan4747 honestly alot of people just are lacking.....not the intelligence but just the understanding of the concept that you can find information with a quick Google search

  • @_Diggler
    @_Diggler 3 ปีที่แล้ว +182

    500 feet up, 500 feet down. That’s a nice server farm you got there.

  • @DanteYewToob
    @DanteYewToob 3 ปีที่แล้ว +193

    I feel like the lack of windows makes the building look smaller... it keeps tricking my eye into thinking it's only 10 floors or so, until you really notice it next to the other buildings or film it straight up.
    Wierd. We really rely on windows as a frame of reference for determining size in buildings

  • @SuperNewbie06
    @SuperNewbie06 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    This building reminds me of the Men In Black headquarters.

    • @anthonybranca1800
      @anthonybranca1800 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      That's actually the the air control towers for the Battery Tunnel.

  • @TangentOmega
    @TangentOmega 3 ปีที่แล้ว +120

    Surprised no one came out to say, "hi". Years ago, while photographing (35 mm) buildings in downtown Houston, I had a couple of friendly guys in suits and sunglasses politely tell me, " It's not allowed to photograph this building." These guys were either one of the alphabet agencies or the Men in Black. Weird.

    • @UrbanistExploringCities
      @UrbanistExploringCities  3 ปีที่แล้ว +60

      I think after the NSA leaks they chilled out. I also remember after 9/11 security was tight in NYC especially when it came to photography

    • @AlexRuckusFTW
      @AlexRuckusFTW 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      @tangentomega, may I ask what building in Houston that was?

    • @jpabmx
      @jpabmx 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      Men in black.... That's what this building is for sure! 👍 👽

    • @campandcook3118
      @campandcook3118 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@jpabmx maybe, it absolutely has more than 3 basementm level

    • @michael_mouse
      @michael_mouse ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@campandcook3118 ... and tunnels going everywhere

  • @armorer94
    @armorer94 3 ปีที่แล้ว +118

    If they tried discovering my secrets they'd be bored shitless.

    • @lauragalindo8391
      @lauragalindo8391 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      🧐🙄🧐🤪👍👍😂😂

    • @vonnieb3257
      @vonnieb3257 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Same here lol..xx

    • @phillipayoung10
      @phillipayoung10 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      😂😂😂😂 Stop!!

    • @StinkFingerr
      @StinkFingerr 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Yes, there's something dreary about you.

  • @alasdairdignon7925
    @alasdairdignon7925 3 ปีที่แล้ว +372

    I was upstairs in that building a few years back, which was a pretty cool experience. Raised floors and acres of racks with miles of overhead wiring. Checking in at the front desk is like something out of a Terry Gilliam movie. Huge empty foyer, large imposing desk, and two sign-in books: one blue (AT&T) and one red (VZ). I am sure there were others for the various 3-letter agencies, but I didn't see them. VZ, I believe, used to be at the WTC, but then got space at Thomas St after 9/11. Apologies if I missed this being mentioned in the video.

    • @VanguardEternal
      @VanguardEternal 2 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      Why were you there and how did you get to the floors above?

    • @treefrog123a
      @treefrog123a 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      They started building down after 9/11

    • @alasdairdignon7925
      @alasdairdignon7925 2 ปีที่แล้ว +49

      @@VanguardEternal Sorry, just saw this question. I was in there working with one of the 2 companies I mentioned above as there is telco datacenter networking gear in there. I had no access to the other floors that may be used for more clandestine purposes. Still cool to have actually gone in there as it is a good story to tell.

    • @richardhaas39
      @richardhaas39 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      AT&T had a CO in the WTC. Verizon (Nynex) was in West St, Pearl St. and 100 Broad St.

    • @pauliedweasel
      @pauliedweasel 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      In some ways not unlike the One Wilshire Building in Los Angeles.

  • @UrbanistExploringCities
    @UrbanistExploringCities  3 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    😱 Want to learn about another crazy skyscraper in NYC? This one is bulletproof: th-cam.com/video/imxmAsNj4bc/w-d-xo.html

  • @williamschaffel3760
    @williamschaffel3760 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +11

    I worked for AT&T as a technician and was assigned to 39 Thomas Street, then called 100 Broadway when it opened. For my last five years for AT&T I worked in this building. Back then, most of the floors were still empty.

  • @UrbanistExploringCities
    @UrbanistExploringCities  3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    👾 BTW this building is featured prominently in my sci-fi novella RETROWAVE: www.amazon.com/Retrowave-Ariel-Viera/dp/B088LBXBYV/

  • @MA-yh2ko
    @MA-yh2ko 3 ปีที่แล้ว +146

    I used to work in the area for years. 1 day at lunch passing by with coworkers we saw 3 men having a smoke break out front at the top of the stairs. We asked what the bldg was and they looked at each other and just shook their heads NO. It is a telecommunication hub, but it reportably also monitors all international calls. Certain key words on calls would trigger monitoring allegedly. Btw AT&T has another huge bldg further north on Church St as well. I think it's even shown in the background on this video.

    • @johannsmithe2570
      @johannsmithe2570 3 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      32 Avenue of Americas, AT&T Long Distance Building (four blocks north on Church Street of 33 Thomas Street, Long Line Building)
      on *Walker* Street
      60 Hudson Street, Western Union Building, on *Thomas* Street (two blocks west of 33 Thomas Street, AT&T Long Line Building)
      Both 32 Avenue of Americas and 60 Hudson Street were designed by R. Thomas Walker.
      Also, AT&T was at 550 Madison Avenue, 195 Broadway LLC (Western Union) on Church Street, 375 Pearl Street (Verizon), 140 West Street Verizon Building designed by R. Thomas Walker. Add, 811 10th Avenue.

    • @thecloneguyz
      @thecloneguyz 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      The whole keyword thing has always been a joke because by the time you say the key word they haven't recorded the preceded conversation so it's pointless after that

    • @kylerocket4904
      @kylerocket4904 3 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      @@thecloneguyz The entire conversation would be recorded and keywords would trigger the conversation to be saved and flagged, no keywords and it’s deleted.

    • @thecloneguyz
      @thecloneguyz 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@kylerocket4904 you forget that someone has to listen to it in real-time so it's all fake

    • @thecloneguyz
      @thecloneguyz 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      @@kylerocket4904 you forget that there's literally a billion conversations happening every hour and it's scientifically impossible to record all of them and then have one person listen to it in real time

  • @davidyoder6174
    @davidyoder6174 3 ปีที่แล้ว +43

    Very similar AT&T (Southern New England Telephone) building in Hartford. Built in late 1960s. Very strong structural steel frame. No windows. Switching equipment in it then was probably replaced by one iPad!!

  • @shoobie
    @shoobie 3 ปีที่แล้ว +71

    That’s the Federal Bureau of Control, you’re not even supposed to be aware of the building’s existence ;)

    • @piratetv1
      @piratetv1 3 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      unless you're looking for it

    • @dylanduff9645
      @dylanduff9645 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      The Oldest House!

    • @corneliuselbourne1044
      @corneliuselbourne1044 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Looks like a fortress to me, like the last man standing type of building when all else fail.

    • @mountainbreeze4176
      @mountainbreeze4176 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Screams look at me I crave attention I’m different and edgy

  • @poormanselectronicsbench2021
    @poormanselectronicsbench2021 ปีที่แล้ว +39

    I have been in the windowless Chicago counterpart to the NYC building, as a cable splicing tech for Illinois Bell / Ameritech, known as "10 South Canal" The cafeteria was fully functional until at least the late 80's, (company cost cutting closed down most cafeteria's across the nation) mostly for employee convenience, as it would have been hard for most to go out to get a lunch and get back on the allotted lunch time of an hour or less. And as far as giving the government "access" to voice and data, there's a long history of that, even down to an event in the 1980's where a AT&T engineer checking an equipment facility on the coast in CA, noticed equipment in a fiber optic cable signal path that wasn't on company records. It turned out, it was a optical signal "splitter" that enabled the guvment to parse all data traffic going over that cable path (possibly to Hawaii and then to Asia), but his accidental whistle blowing raised awareness of such work. More recently, a "Room 641A" was disclosed by an AT&T employee ( wikipedia referenced info) disclosing a NSA access point to fiber optic signal paths.

  • @adamndirtyape
    @adamndirtyape 3 ปีที่แล้ว +106

    Good thing the Agents in the Matrix didn't take Morpheus to a building like this instead of one covered in windows. It would have screwed up Neo's rescue plan quite thoroughly.

    • @Varibeca
      @Varibeca 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Or to a basement

    • @jamesowen1075
      @jamesowen1075 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Ya looks like there prepared this time they wont lose there new matrix

    • @trumpameri1638
      @trumpameri1638 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      🤣🤣🤣🤣💪💪💪

    • @1arra1alpha72
      @1arra1alpha72 ปีที่แล้ว

      That's funny and true

  • @tacosno409
    @tacosno409 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    8:54 the undercover casually smoking a cigarette keeping an eye on our presenter lol

    • @jondavidmcnabb
      @jondavidmcnabb 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Dude!!! you totally spotted it!

  • @nikolatasev4948
    @nikolatasev4948 3 ปีที่แล้ว +37

    Wonder how often people working there are thinking "Are we the bad guys?"

    • @ColtraneTaylor
      @ColtraneTaylor 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      If they're like the average person they don't.

    • @Nebarus
      @Nebarus 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Or they know they are the good guys who also knows the secrets of the building should not be shared in public and with potential enemies of the US.

    • @nikolatasev4948
      @nikolatasev4948 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@Nebarus I'm sure this is exactly what the Gestapo were telling themselves.

    • @Nebarus
      @Nebarus 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@nikolatasev4948 So you compare the NSA and FBI intelligence gathering to Gestapos methods and purpose of supporting an undemocratic regime? So the US is a regime with evil intend?

    • @nikolatasev4948
      @nikolatasev4948 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@Nebarus I am saying " the secrets of the building should not be shared in public and with potential enemies of the country" is a very convenient excuse that can be used for pretty much anything. And therefore is absolutely not a proof the people inside the buildings are "good guys".

  • @TheDurnans
    @TheDurnans ปีที่แล้ว +11

    I worked as an MCI telephone operator in the very early 1990's. We had rooms that were locked off & we were told that it was for the use of government to do spying. I worked in a mid-western town.

  • @555pghbob
    @555pghbob ปีที่แล้ว +10

    I'm a retired AT&T Long Lines employee who worked before and after the divestiture of AT&T until the reconstitution of AT&T from the SBC / AT&T merger in Nov 2005. I heard many rumors about the building I worked in at 635 Grant Street in Pittsburgh, PA, e.g., that the building was strong enough to survived the annihilation of the USX building across the street if it fell on the AT&T building. It is absolutely true that AT&T monitored international phone calls in and out of the USA as early as the 1980's, when I started working there. I know, because I was an overseas telephone operator when everything still had an analog component. We used switchboards with cords, and we operators could listen into any conversation that was happening at anytime. We weren't permitted to do that, but we could monitor the line for transmission quality. I heard many interesting things, like drug deals from public phones here in the US and women calling their military husbands in Germany to complain about the kids or having no money. AT&T is a quasi government agency and trust that they monitor everything they possibly can. I finally left the company in 2009 when they started recording all of our customer interactions and searching our call records for any keywords like "fuck" or other swear words.

    • @officialnickname
      @officialnickname 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Isn't it common for call centers that the calls are recorded for quality control?

  • @SupremeLeaderKimJong-un
    @SupremeLeaderKimJong-un ปีที่แล้ว +29

    Another weird structure in NYC: At the western end of Canal Street, there is what looks to be an innocent pier with some benches...until you see an odd structure at the end of it. And then notice there's another pier with the same structure on the NJ side. And you might wonder "What is that?".
    Those are ventilation shafts for the Holland Tunnel. The Holland Tunnel is named as such not because of the area's Dutch heritage but rather because of Clifford Milburn Holland, the tunnel's chief engineer who died from a heart attack three yours before it opened due to stress from the project. When the tunnel opened in 1927, it was the longest continuous underwater vehicular tunnel in the world, as well as the world's first mechanically ventilated tunnel. The ventilation system was designed by Ole Singstad, a Norwegian who also worked on Lincoln, Brooklyn-Battery, and Queens-Midtown Tunnels.

  • @MBhatesYT
    @MBhatesYT 3 ปีที่แล้ว +138

    This is the most interesting and fascinating story I’ve ever heard about NYC, thank you for making this video! I didn’t even know (how ignorant of me) that this building existed!

    • @tariqsw69
      @tariqsw69 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      A more fascinating story would be how Central Park was built! Look it up if you don’t know

  • @keyanicks8682
    @keyanicks8682 3 ปีที่แล้ว +34

    The fact that the address has "33" in it tells you who in control.

    • @keyanicks8682
      @keyanicks8682 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @TYS02 Masons

    • @vwsaiphone
      @vwsaiphone 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      The Teletubbies

    • @keyanicks8682
      @keyanicks8682 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@vwsaiphone tinky winky to be exact

    • @Spaceghost444
      @Spaceghost444 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Of course. Black magic

    • @CreeseDF
      @CreeseDF 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      aaaaa scary devil demon religious number!!111!111!!!!11

  • @AverytheCubanAmerican
    @AverytheCubanAmerican ปีที่แล้ว +27

    Speaking of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, if it wasn't for Jacqueline, the iconic Grand Central Terminal would've gotten the same fate as the original Penn Station. The original Penn Station was enormous, a majestic building that rivaled Grand Central. One describes it compared to the current Penn Station as "One entered the city like a god; one scuttles in now like a rat.” When it was decided to demolish the building in favor of Madison Square Garden, there was outrage, but it wasn't enough to save it.
    It was a turning point in the preservation movement. Two years after its demolition, the city passed a landmarks preservation act, thereby creating the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Grand Central Terminal was next on the chopping block, as proposed by its then owner Penn Central in 1968. It was to be replaced by a Marcel Breuer office building design that looked like a shoebox lid on its side. Jacqueline Kennedy was having NONE of it. She joined the fight in 1975 with the Municipal Art Society and had a conference at the famous Oyster Bar where she said, "If we don’t care about our past, we can’t have very much hope for our future." Thanks to Jacqueline convincing the mayor (Abraham Beame), the terminal was ultimately saved by the city's LPC, but this was challenged by Penn Central in a Supreme Court case. In 1978, the court ruled in favor of the city. And the most beautiful building in NYC was saved.

    • @arribaficationwineho32
      @arribaficationwineho32 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Yes! Thank you for remembering her contribution.

  • @onemorecowswag
    @onemorecowswag 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    July 2019 I visited NYC fresh from the new mexico desert and late one night I decided to leave my temporary home in the bronx and walk around downtown Manhattan. Knowing nothing i rode the train and got off on a random stop, it was about 11pm and the nightlife in chinatown hummed in a crimson red. I got drunk in a noodle shop and got lost looking for the train station, deep inside of the urban canyon i looked up and saw this skyscraper. I may as well have been staring at a mothership floating in the sky. The long, flat, almost chimney like structure of the building filled me with a sense of dread and ignorance, i couldn't even look where I was going.

  • @dutchmazz
    @dutchmazz 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    Absolutely one of your best videos, I loved it and learned something new! Well Done!

  • @adriart8690
    @adriart8690 3 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    Another great video Ariel. You always bring varied and interesting information. So grateful I found your channel. Keep it up Ariel!

  • @LaneGandy
    @LaneGandy 3 ปีที่แล้ว +78

    There’s a building like this in Nashville owned by ATT and it was partially blown up by a van parked by it a few months ago. The network in the southeast US went down for a while.

    • @itselevenfiftyfive3833
      @itselevenfiftyfive3833 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Oh I remember that incident

    • @therocinante3443
      @therocinante3443 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      How the hell wasn't that huge national news?

    • @SilentKnight43
      @SilentKnight43 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      @@therocinante3443 It was.

    • @uncovidvaxxforthestrongand3582
      @uncovidvaxxforthestrongand3582 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      lol under attack

    • @kutter_ttl6786
      @kutter_ttl6786 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      @@therocinante3443 It happened in 2020. Before exploding the RV also broadcast a warning stating there was a bomb and to clear the area so the only person killed was the bomber.

  • @judithhinton5784
    @judithhinton5784 3 ปีที่แล้ว +43

    Usually, I'm not a fan of the brutalist architectural style, but this windowless building is fascinating. Very interesting information...thanks, Ariel!

  • @scottygarner4670
    @scottygarner4670 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    This was a fascinating and incredibly well done video I gained WAY more knowledge than I thought I would looking up on TH-cam to simply find a video on this building with no windows in New York City.

  • @sammbabazi2849
    @sammbabazi2849 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    I subscribed afew hours ago, but am already addicted to watching this channel. Wow....so much architectural designs! And secrets too!

  • @hackjealousy
    @hackjealousy 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    We always used to say that if the planes had hit 33 Thomas they would have bounced right off.

    • @eagleeye8916
      @eagleeye8916 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @helloperson readingthis what do you mean ? I was in Brooklyn when the towers were on fire . My company had contracts for the clean up with the towers and adjacent buildings. I only worked like 5 days due to me feeling sick cause of all the debri . Luckily I don't have health conditions and respiratory problems .

    • @eagleeye8916
      @eagleeye8916 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @helloperson readingthis we were wearing those n95 masks , had we knew how dangerous the conditions were we all needed those respiratory mask . That's why me n a few co workers stopped working there, we felt weak and sick it wasn't normal .
      By looking at the videos many times you can see burst at the corners where the beams are and it just dropping like nothing just like a demo job . That building should of never collapsed the way it did . I'm just glad I got out of there after a few days , I was weak all week . The pay was good but not worth my health and they didn't protect us like they should have . I lucked out . I can't imagine what those other guys went through

    • @tcjohnson3437
      @tcjohnson3437 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@eagleeye8916 Pure liar.

  • @user-uc4ot3jv5g
    @user-uc4ot3jv5g ปีที่แล้ว +2

    That’s New York for you. I’ve been here 5 years now and I’ve never heard of this street till now

  • @chuckoneill2023
    @chuckoneill2023 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    Most big cities have a building or two like this. They were used to house switching systems for telecommunications. The lack of windows were for environmental control. I think security was just a secondary concern.

  • @debailey72
    @debailey72 3 ปีที่แล้ว +28

    Thanks for this, I had no idea this building existed!

    • @UrbanistExploringCities
      @UrbanistExploringCities  3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      my pleasure! yea the building is surprisingly easy to miss I didn't know about it till only about 3 years ago

  • @marynamurray9385
    @marynamurray9385 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    Fascinating information as usual - thank you Urbanist!

  • @professional.commentator
    @professional.commentator 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I didn't even know this building existed until last year, and I'm a native New Yorker. It's crazy how nobody has ever really talked about it until in recent years.

  • @LVT_Music21
    @LVT_Music21 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Dude, this is awesome. First time Ive heard a comprehensive explanation on this.

    • @UrbanistExploringCities
      @UrbanistExploringCities  3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      yea my pleasure!! there's a few videos on it, but none really went in depth. I wish I could go inside!

  • @lbush8261
    @lbush8261 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Love the dramatic music at 7:31 when introducing the building ... not only that but also the way the camera panned upward to the top of the structure

  • @DonGivani
    @DonGivani 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Secret Service, FBI, CIA, DEA, NSA, Google all in one building

  • @colosseumbuilders4768
    @colosseumbuilders4768 3 ปีที่แล้ว +40

    AT&T has skyscrapers all over the country with no windows. They house telecom equipment. There is one at the corner of Madison and Canal in Chicago, for example. There isn't much of interest inside.

    • @Box545x39
      @Box545x39 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      When was the last time you went inside this place?

    • @sean_before8807
      @sean_before8807 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Thanks nsa haha

    • @EggmondChad
      @EggmondChad ปีที่แล้ว

      You’re not the builders buddy. You better hope you don’t work for the nsa. Better hope

  • @tonymaher3034
    @tonymaher3034 3 ปีที่แล้ว +22

    When I first graduated architecture school in the late 1980’s, I worked for Warnekes firm, which was fairly small at that point. By that time he was a little hard of hearing and would basically yell questions at you. It was terrifying

    • @thecandyman9308
      @thecandyman9308 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      lol that's hilarious

    • @SKF358
      @SKF358 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      1980s. It's plural not possessive so there's no apostrophe.

  • @shadowess1961
    @shadowess1961 3 ปีที่แล้ว +50

    Who would or could work in a windowless building for 8 hours? Sounds crazy as hell. Yet I am fascinated...

    • @GmanL18P
      @GmanL18P 3 ปีที่แล้ว +33

      Oddly enough most people do, I worked in a kitchen for about 10-11 hours, Without ever seeing any sort of day light till I went to go home.

    • @frankblack0503
      @frankblack0503 3 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      Warehouses, production, and so on...

    • @R2TheM
      @R2TheM 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      I work in a building originally built for the FBI.. 4 stories, no windows.

    • @bmona7550
      @bmona7550 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      North Texas high school buildings barely even have windows..

    • @K42023
      @K42023 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      The Matrix doesn’t need windows.

  • @andytang04
    @andytang04 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    AT&T actually has several windowless buildings here in California ,I’ve seen one in the Central Valley and also in east Los Angeles

  • @jacquelineuk873
    @jacquelineuk873 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Wow that was fascinating! You do such varied and great videos

  • @mattperez1705
    @mattperez1705 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This building is SUCH an old topic and has not been a mystery for years.

  • @thejoshman3843
    @thejoshman3843 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    this video will self destruct in 30 seconds...

  • @kummer45
    @kummer45 3 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    This building is fascinating in many ways. Thank you so much for letting me be aware of it. The ventilation system must be a marvel of technology.

  • @Chris-lh7wj
    @Chris-lh7wj ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I distinctly remember this building just visiting NY as a tourist, really sticks out

  • @dav264
    @dav264 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Chicago has a similar ATT building at Canal and Madison. I believe it does have windows on some top floors of the building, but it's very similar to the one in this video.

  • @jasonm9264
    @jasonm9264 2 ปีที่แล้ว +36

    Love this subject material. Thanks for the video. We have an old AT&T building in my area, Appleton, wi. Similar architecture but with windows. The base is also granite. When I was younger I worked for a maintenance company that serviced the building. It also had a massive basement. There was the basement that the everyday employees had access to, but under that was one that had 20’ ceilings with massive fuel tanks to several generators, kitchen area, coolers, and other rooms we didn’t go in. I had only been in there twice. It was rather amazing to be in there, reminds me that there are plans for the potential of mass destruction on US soil and we need to stay prepared.

    • @zaggirl06
      @zaggirl06 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I grew up in Neenah and I remember the AT&T building since we went to downtown Appleton a lot. I don’t remember windows but then again we didn’t really hang out around it lol. We had a small windowless AT&T building (Bell)in downtown Neenah too. It always freaked me out when I was a kid.

    • @chebochevato8336
      @chebochevato8336 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      It's only a mystery to someone under 35. Anyone over 36 knows exactly what that building was from the thumbnail.
      Because most cities have one. Bigger the city, bigger the building. The phone company has been a monopoly for most of its existence. The tallest building in downtown Santa Rosa for decades was the Pac-Bell switchboard building. I live in Reno NV now. And I'm looking at the back of the old Bell/At&t switchboard building not more than 600 ft across a city storage yard and the Truckee river right outside my front door. Both of them windowless buildings of concrete and/or metal. Reno is 7 stories tall. Santa Rosa was 10 or 12.
      Both with mind control rays..err, I mean harmless satellite dishes pointed at your hopes and dreams...ehh I mean pointed at nothing in particular or suspicious in any way...
      Thousands of these buildings in nearly every city in the country. From Reno to Tulsa to Midland to Topeka to Eureka to LA to New York... New York's got 3 of them actually.
      The NSA is there? No shit Sherlock. Ever read the Patriot act?

  • @5argetech56
    @5argetech56 3 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    I get visions of the Movie "The Day After" with Jason Robarts Shown in the late 1980's It was so terrifying that
    After the movie (ABC) had to show a disclaimer to calm everyone down!

    • @UrbanistExploringCities
      @UrbanistExploringCities  3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      oooh interesting, now I'm curious to check that movie out

    • @torg0
      @torg0 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@UrbanistExploringCities That movie was scary AF!

    • @karlee3095
      @karlee3095 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I remember watching that. It freaked a lot of people out.

    • @adamndirtyape
      @adamndirtyape 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      What's scary is far too many people think the threat of Armageddon by nuclear war ended with the close of the Cold War, but in reality, the threat of nuclear annihilation is just as close as it ever was. People just don't talk about it as much anymore.

  • @derekdurst9984
    @derekdurst9984 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Warnecke designed the 60's era Federal Building in San Francisco...when it opened people walked in front with placards reading "THIS IS AN UGLY BUILDING" it still is... San Fran has been surrounding it with other structures trying to hide it for years! The NY building is handsome by comparison. Strong forms clad in expensive granite...not cheap curtain wall! Thanks for an interesting video...!

    • @legacy4548
      @legacy4548 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Forget expensive it was built to survive a nuke old man 🤣🤣🙏🙏

  • @Elfnetdesigns
    @Elfnetdesigns ปีที่แล้ว +1

    We have on similar to that here but it is painted with giant murals on it's walls to make it more pleasing to look at. The building here houses PSTN switching equipment, fiber optic trunks, All the city and county officials departments servers. Long lines microwave transceivers, various cellular providers and a number of other internet relates systems like DNS servers, mail servers, web servers, etc.

  • @beyondthenurd
    @beyondthenurd 3 ปีที่แล้ว +50

    If you were my history teacher I probably would have been a historian.

    • @OzzyVRrealone
      @OzzyVRrealone 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Exactly. And he's not obnoxious in the least

  • @Luis.Feliciano
    @Luis.Feliciano 3 ปีที่แล้ว +30

    This is the building that the video game Control uses as inspiration

  • @christopherdieudonne
    @christopherdieudonne ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I just walked by this building yesterday during my vacation in New York. We wondered what it was and now this video pops up in my suggestions.

  • @fuzzylon
    @fuzzylon 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    When I worked for AT&T in London I used to talk to people who worked in this bulding all the time.
    Never got to go inside myself, though.

  • @ansoniamuse401
    @ansoniamuse401 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Maybe your best video so far

  • @youngreeper1439
    @youngreeper1439 3 ปีที่แล้ว +47

    I used to work right across the street from that building and wondered what that building was for. I always knew that it had to be some kind of federal building, because there's a lot of federal buildings in that area.

    • @luiscraze169
      @luiscraze169 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I worked at 20 Thomas right across from that building always thought of it as the at&t building

    • @hackjealousy
      @hackjealousy 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@luiscraze169 You guys FBI? That’s what’s right across from the entrance iirc.

    • @luiscraze169
      @luiscraze169 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@hackjealousy no it was a law firm back then early 90s

  • @JS-mq1qg
    @JS-mq1qg 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Thank you nsa for keeping us safe!

  • @lizzykay9685
    @lizzykay9685 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Wow! Thank you for that, so very interesting and cool!

  • @MyWalkLondon
    @MyWalkLondon 3 ปีที่แล้ว +70

    "I just need green. I need to wake up and see grass and squirrels. I don't want to see skyscrapers" Andre Leon Talley

    • @sebby324
      @sebby324 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Then live in the country side like me

    • @77numerouno
      @77numerouno 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @Mwalk the NY is definitely the wrong place for you

    • @flamah10n
      @flamah10n 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@sebby324 Oh the countryside, I love it!

    • @jimfaust6342
      @jimfaust6342 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I hate squirels and I love skyscrapers so I'll stick with them. Lol I hate tree rats with a passion.

    • @chasenip2
      @chasenip2 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Andre said that after Anna threw him away & he was suddenly persona non grata. 😂

  • @ftla2014
    @ftla2014 3 ปีที่แล้ว +18

    Brutalism ❤️

  • @coreysouza3540
    @coreysouza3540 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    This is not the only building owned by att in nyc that’s windowless. There is a second building on 10th ave and 53rd street in Manhattan

    • @shortyd999
      @shortyd999 ปีที่แล้ว

      Are they high-rises like this one?

  • @vasileioskolias4728
    @vasileioskolias4728 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Awesome video! Thanks Ariel!

  • @glojean94
    @glojean94 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Very interesting. Thank you for posting.

  • @alejandromedina-ix5yx
    @alejandromedina-ix5yx 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    wish the video was longer, thank you man.

  • @RobinsVoyage
    @RobinsVoyage ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Well done! I really enjoyed this.

  • @debschmitt761
    @debschmitt761 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Fascinating, thank you!

  • @letstravel300
    @letstravel300 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Great sharing about this building.

  • @TheAdventuresOfDougan
    @TheAdventuresOfDougan ปีที่แล้ว +8

    I used to walk past this building all the time. I knew it had to have a nefarious purpose because why no windows? Well, apparently, you can decipher the vibrations of sound on glass, so you can hear conversations in the building by monitoring the windows. Always made me think of Pink Floyd and flying pigs.

    • @243wayne1
      @243wayne1 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Defeats laser mics and parabolic mics.

    • @jacksmith7576
      @jacksmith7576 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

      No doubt children have been sacrificed their... 33 thomas street.

  • @baje1122
    @baje1122 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Good info. There’s another building 20 miles outside of NYC.

  • @lcmlcm2460
    @lcmlcm2460 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Man that building looks expensive but obviously durable. Kool thanks

  • @chevycaprice87
    @chevycaprice87 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    In Moscow, there is a 21-story skyscraper without windows that also have a supercomputer inside that collects data about people in Russia. What a coincidence.

    • @dannylo5875
      @dannylo5875 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Its the control matrix.

  • @bquick94
    @bquick94 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    The number 33 always appears at places like these

  • @aniadelvecchio
    @aniadelvecchio 18 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    This building soon makes me think of Duga Radar,also known as "the woodpecker" in the Chernobyl area... both interesting & mysterious at the same time

  • @santiagosoria461
    @santiagosoria461 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    That's it, new favorite channel.

  • @suelyons531
    @suelyons531 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    when I live in NYC I always thought this building was a gas-off-air flow exchange for the subway system. I guess not!

  • @ChopFooey
    @ChopFooey 3 ปีที่แล้ว +41

    I'm honestly shocked you weren't detained and questioned as to why you were filming critical infrastructure. Those guys don't play around, or so I'm told.

    • @RonLaws
      @RonLaws ปีที่แล้ว +6

      easier to let people do it and ramble on, plausible deniability.

    • @KhaledTheSaudiHawkII
      @KhaledTheSaudiHawkII ปีที่แล้ว +3

      He’s probably on a dozen lists just because of filming and on another dozen just for posting the video on YT

    • @ElectricityTaster
      @ElectricityTaster ปีที่แล้ว +13

      Duh, it's the NSA. They know who he is and what he is going to do from several blocks away. There is no need to question him and risk some weird shit appearing on youtube.

    • @BladePocok
      @BladePocok ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@ElectricityTaster You think this video would have appeared here if he was questioned and detained ? :)

    • @jbdragon3295
      @jbdragon3295 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

      He is on a public sidewalk and can record anything and everything he sees. It’s a first amendment protected right. Can’t just illegally detain a person because of a camera in public. That would also create a huge scene. I’m sure this building gets recorded all the time. It’s what is inside that actually matters. No one is taking pictures of the inside and posting those. That would be a huge deal and done on private property. They wouldn’t be playing around then.

  • @robertkirkpatrick9282
    @robertkirkpatrick9282 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    There is a smaller version of this building in Youngstown, Ohio also owned by AT&T. Similar building material, same style, and no windows, however several doors on the exterior with no outside fire escape attached, shear drop to the ground if someone stepped through them. Next to it is a 10 story metal tower with Youngstown State’s logo on it as well. I’ve never seen anyone go in or out either.

    • @andyb3666
      @andyb3666 ปีที่แล้ว

      Those fire escapes sound dangerous, what's the point?

  • @IntoTheLens827
    @IntoTheLens827 ปีที่แล้ว

    WOW!!!! Thats Crazy!!!! I've See this building & I had no idea what it was used for or built for. Awesome Video!

  • @Moribus_Artibus
    @Moribus_Artibus 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    So basically this is the citadel of New York City

  • @houstontexas8738
    @houstontexas8738 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    There's a building like this one in downtown Bryan, TX that also has no windows and says at&t on it but its not as tall

  • @relaxandlivelife7093
    @relaxandlivelife7093 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I loved the detailed presentation

  • @alexlambidis4865
    @alexlambidis4865 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    great video, brother!

  • @MrMakeDo
    @MrMakeDo 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    Is anyone really surprised that NSA is recording all the communications coming and going from the US though?

  • @AJS_117
    @AJS_117 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    “Granite is flame resistant” - you cannot set fire to rock, you’ve heard it hear first people.

    • @bk2342
      @bk2342 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      *here 🤷🏻‍♀️

    • @AJS_117
      @AJS_117 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@bk2342 feel better now?

    • @bk2342
      @bk2342 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@AJS_117 ehh it still says hear.

    • @jeshkam
      @jeshkam 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@bk2342 🤣😁😂👍👍

  • @DavidNakkila
    @DavidNakkila 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Wow your great at telling a story! Keep these videos up!

    • @UrbanistExploringCities
      @UrbanistExploringCities  3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      thanks, I really appreciate it! I'm glad you dig my storytelling :D

  • @reiswekker
    @reiswekker 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Thank you for making me aware of brutalism. Great video.

  • @HOUSEOFXR
    @HOUSEOFXR 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Can I pay my outrageous phone bill there?

  • @willmatic84
    @willmatic84 3 ปีที่แล้ว +17

    😂👉🏼 i thought that was the MIB building

    • @menotme5560
      @menotme5560 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      SAME!

    • @hamiltonsny
      @hamiltonsny 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      The M.I.B. building is on Battery Place in Lower Manhattan. It is actually a ventilation building for the Holland Tunnel.

    • @jayvoke188
      @jayvoke188 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Why this building wasn't a Target on 9/11?

    • @elijahthesamurai
      @elijahthesamurai 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@jayvoke188 the terrorists are afraid of what will happen if they blow it up

  • @kingj521
    @kingj521 ปีที่แล้ว

    Seeing this building for the first time when I had Jury duty was a Jarring experience.

  • @nathanb1078
    @nathanb1078 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Fascinating look into this building. Thanks 🎉

  • @sunshinenyc007
    @sunshinenyc007 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Ariel was wondering if u ever did a tour of gramercy park and the history of the beautiful old buildings around it? Oh wait i found it!! Yay

  • @sunshinesweetlove..8066
    @sunshinesweetlove..8066 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Curious to see the inside but 1st time I’ve ever heard of this building. Cool story.

  • @globaltravelmate
    @globaltravelmate 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Wow, super interesting. Thanks for sharing.

  • @americanitalianisrael4008
    @americanitalianisrael4008 ปีที่แล้ว

    THIS WAS FANTASTIC. VERY VERY INTERESTING. GREAT JOB.