to be sure, very far west." According to Reynolds, the building's construction encouraged office development to move west from Sixth to Seventh Avenue, just as the construction of Rockefeller Center had encouraged a similar westward movement from Fifth to Sixth Avenue. Architectural Record described the building as having been proposed "amidst a swirl of controversy over what some see as an over-concentration of new skyscraper construction in Manhattan's crowded midtown". Nonetheless, the development of Equitable Tower directly improved the character of the surrounding area, particularly the Midtown portion of Seventh Avenue, in the mid-1980s. Following the tower's construction, William Zeckendorf developed the nearby One Worldwide Plaza to improve the character of Eighth Avenue. Though developers praised the development boom that followed Equitable Tower's construction, civic organizations worried that theaters north of Times Square would be quickly replaced by offices. See also Tallest buildings in New York City List of tallest buildings in the United States References Notes Citations Sources External links 1985 establishments in New York City Axa Edward Larrabee Barnes buildings Midtown Manhattan Office buildings completed in 1985 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan) Skyscraper office buildings in Manhattan Postmodern architecture in New York City