It’s now my 7th year working in the Rockefeller Center. I’ve been walking in it, around it and under it almost daily. Little by little the place opens its little secrets to me – a hidden restaurant here, an eccentric pigeon enthusiast or a subterranean piece of art there.
I used to walk around the place with my camera in hand, like a tourist. Now I am a bit more like the dozens of professional photographers that inhabit the place (Rock Center is home to many news agencies), as my camera is a little nicer. With the nicer gear I get to see smaller details.
John D. Rockefeller Sr., a very strict Baptist, did not approve of drinking and dancing. His son, John D. Jr, was a little less strict — there was dancing at his wedding, despite his father’s wishes (although still no booze). A lot of people think that John D. Sr was the one who built the Rockefeller Center, but you just need to look around the place to realize that Senior probably did not even set foot in it: the architectural art features dozens of naked or half-naked men and women.
For instance, Radio City Music hall features three beautiful metal rondels designed by Hildreth Meiere. These have more exposed nipples than a dosen Superbowls.
The one depicting “Drama” hides, what I guess is a little joke by Oscar Bach, the metalsmith who executed Meiere’s design.
The maiden on the right is sporting a piece of nipple jewelry in a form of an old fashioned slotted screw:
