year of Equitable Tower's opening, eighty percent of the space had been leased. Among the tenants were arts organizations American Council for the Arts, Center for Arts Information, and Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, which were offered below-market-rate rents. In addition, accounting firm Ernst & Whinney (later Ernst & Young) took space in the tower. By October 1987, when Black Monday occurred, Equitable Tower was fully leased despite charging higher rents per square foot than other buildings in the area. The American grill Sam's Restaurant opened at ground level at the end of that year. 1990s and 2000s By 1990, Equitable was in the process of being acquired by the French company Axa. Within two years, Equitable had gone public and downsized most of its employees, leaving only 2,200 working at 787 Seventh Avenue. The company was considering leaving for the suburbs, given the high costs of occupying office space in midtown, but ultimately decided against it. The Whitney branch in Equitable Tower closed in 1992, when its original agreement expired, and it was replaced by an art gallery called the Equitable Gallery. Sam's Restaurant closed the next year, being replaced by another American grill, Judson Grill, in early 1994. Equitable only occupied ten percent of 787 Seventh Avenue by early 1995, when it placed of space for lease. That year, Equitable announced it would be moving one block east to 1290 Sixth Avenue, with only the highest-ranking executives remaining at 787 Seventh Avenue. Much of Equitable's space at 787 Seventh Avenue was taken by law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher, and the floor just below the penthouse was occupied by Paramount Capital. With Equitable's relocation, the America Today murals were moved to 1290 Sixth Avenue. In the late 1990s, David Emil planned to open a restaurant called Night Sky on the 50th floor, but it was canceled after Equitable wished to lease that floor as offices. The 1997 chess match of Deep Blue versus Garry Kasparov, in which IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeated world chess champion Garry Kasparov, took place at Equitable Center as well. By 2000, the building's tenants included Bank One, BNP Paribas, Hicks Muse, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher. About a third of the total space, , was set to become available for lease in 2002 when Ernst & Young's lease expired. Much of Ernst & Young's space was taken in 2001 by law firm Sidley