Goldberger called the building "54 stories of ambivalence", saying it "adds almost no grace to the skyline". Progressive Architecture was similarly critical of the "undistinguished quality" of the facade, saying: "Barnes's tower can't seem to make up its mind whether it's a Modern skyscraper or a Post-Modern one", Roger Kimball of The New Criterion wrote: "Mr. Barnes seems to have abandoned any attempt at a cogent architectural design. Instead, he has contrived to produce one of the most pretentious and ungainly new buildings in New York." The New Criterion cited Equitable Tower's "large clunky base", its "replaceable"-looking granite and limestone facade, and its massive arches that "seem more like movie-set novelties" as flaws in the design. Suzanne Stephens said the criticism showed that Barnes was "more adept at chipping, chamfering and chiseling buildings with rotated geometries". By contrast, architectural writer Donald M. Reynolds said the building was "one of the largest and most comprehensive collaborations of architecture, urban planning, and public art since Rockefeller Center". The artwork was received more positively by architectural and art critics. The New York Times reported that the artwork was a "statement of [Equitable's] belief not only in the commercial and promotional value of art, but also in the role art can play in the quality of corporate and communal life". Progressive Architecture characterized the collection as "one of the more successful corporate art programs to come along in some time", as opposed to the "resolutely ho-hum" character of much of Equitable Tower. Phaidon Press wrote of the art collection: "AXA Equitable Life Insurance wished to project a positive image of itself to New Yorkers—as progressive, leading edge and civic-minded, as demonstrated by this indisputable gift to the city." Conversely, The New Criterion wrote that the collection was "not art but money", in that it was a showcase of Equitable's wealth rather than a display of art for its own sake. Goldberger thought that, even with the art and public spaces, the building "lacks a kind of freshness, as if everyone involved in this project were doing it by rote". Influence on other developments Equitable was the first major company to erect a headquarters on Seventh Avenue in Midtown. At the time of its completion, the building was the only major office structure on Seventh Avenue. This led Architectural Record to say: "Equitable Life Assurance Society has heeded Horace Greeley's dictum, 'Go West', though not,