New York Coliseum

See also: Bronx Coliseum

Coliseum commemorative stamp

The New York Coliseum was a convention center that stood on Columbus Circle in New York City from 1956 to 2000. It was designed by architects Leon and Lionel Levy in a modified international style, and included both a low building with exhibition space and a 26-story office block.

History

The Coliseum was built from 1954 to 1956 by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority under city planner Robert Moses, who, in rescuing a project that had long languished, condemned the area from West 58th to West 60th Streets on the west side of Columbus Circle. During construction in 1955, an accident occurred in which around 10,000 square feet (930 m²) of exhibition space collapsed, injuring 50 workers and killing one.

The Coliseum, which replaced the Circle Building and smaller tenement and retail buildings, opened on April 28, 1956, with three exhibitions: the New York International Auto Show, the National Photographic Show, and the Fifth International Philatelic Exhibition. A U.S. postage stamp commemorates the show and the building. Through 1986, the Coliseum hosted 1,246 events.

The 323,000-square-foot (30,000 m²) Coliseum contained four exhibition floors, including a 150-foot (46 m)-square, three-story well for exhibiting large items, such as sailboats and airplanes.

The complex was demolished in 2000 to make way for the Time Warner Center, originally dubbed the AOL Time Warner Center.

In the 1980s, Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was one of the many prominent individuals who opposed the construction of skyscrapers on this site.