In New York City, Lincoln Loses a Tower, but He Still Has the Tunnel

SAM ROBERTS The New York Times 02/13/2010 07:42

The Lincoln statue that once graced the lobby of the former Lincoln Building on 42nd Street.

Think “Lincoln” and “New York,” and the juxtaposition would most likely conjure up the tunnel or the performing arts center. Until this year, it might have also evoked the majestic Lincoln Building at 60 East 42nd Street.

No longer.

With barely a nod to the former president, the owners of the 53-story tower, which opened 80 years ago, changed the name to One Grand Central Place, removed the bronze plaques on which the Gettysburg Address and his second Inaugural Address were immortalized, and evicted Daniel Chester French’s sculpture of the “seated Lincoln,” the model for the Lincoln Memorial, from the lobby.

The makeover occurred last year, the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth, and after much talk that elevated President Obama to the former president’s soul mate. (Mr. Obama hardly discouraged the connection: he recited the presidential oath of office a year ago with his hand on the same Bible that Lincoln used at his inauguration in 1861.)

“First they replaced Lincoln’s Birthday with Presidents’ Day, and now this,” said Harold Holzer, a Lincoln scholar. “If this landlord took over the Lincoln Memorial, would he rename it the Temple on the Mall? The trend to the generic is not only an insult to our intelligence, it also threatens to erase national memory when perhaps we need it most.

“Lincoln talked at Gettysburg about ensuring that heroes did not die in vain. Apparently he spoke too soon.”