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Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
655 W. 34th St.,
New York, NY 10001
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Official Website
Nearby Subway Stops
7 at 34th St.-Hudson Yards
Parking
- Nearby Parking Lots
- Street Parking
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Profile
Upon its opening in 1986, this I. M. Pei–designed, 840,00-square-foot event and convention space became known as one of the city’s premier eyesores. At the time, a jet-black steel skeleton supported a dark, mirrored-glass skin that restricted natural light inside. But a five-year, $463 million renovation, completed in 2014, saw 300,000 square feet of new floors installed, the space-age inner frame repainted white, and every single pane of glass on the exterior replaced with a translucent, more energy-efficient variety. The result is a facility that looks something like a modern airport, with sweeping latticework arches and white metal supporting cylinders overlooking acres of floor space bathed in natural light. The renovation also involved the installation of a seven-acre “green roof,” one of the largest in the country, which can absorb up to 6.8 million gallons of rainwater annually.
ExtraThe highlight of I. M. Pei's architectural statement is his bravura design for the southernmost atrium: a vast open space that at its highest point rises 150 feet over antlike convention-goers.