New York Life Insurance, 1929.

Between 1879 and 1925 this plot at Madison Avenue and 26th Street was home to the first two incarnations of Madison Square Garden. MSG II (by famed architect Stanford White) was never a great financial success. In 1925, the New York Life Insurance Company who owned the land decided to demolish the Garden for their new headquarters. Completed in 1928, the New York Life Building stands 40-stories-tall and is topped by a gleaming gilded pyramidal roof. While its ornament is solidly Gothic Revival, its massing and shape are distinctly more Moderne.