decorations memorialize Con Ed workers killed in World War I. The tower section was topped by a "Tower of Light" designed to look like a miniature temple, capped by a bronze lantern which lights up at night. Below the bronze lantern lies a recessed loggia of columns, which are lit up at night with various color themes. Under the column architecture, the tower includes four separate 16-foot wide clock faces on each side of the building. The lighting scheme on the Warren and Wetmore tower was first implemented in 1929. At the time, the lighting scheme was unusual in that it provided colored light, as opposed to the plain colors expressed by most other buildings' illuminations, and also was powered by electricity rather than gas. The addition was widely lauded for its features. A critic in The New Yorker wrote in 1929 that the addition, "interestingly wedged in between the flanking buildings", included "a sturdy shaft, classic in detail and vigorous in silhouette". The New Yorker writer further explained that the building was well integrated into the features of the neighboring structures and employed a good use of setbacks, but that the cornice above the base was slightly offset. Another magazine, The Architect, stated that the design and decorations "made this a building of unusual merit and distinction", while W. Parker Chase wrote in 1933 that the Consolidated Edison Building was among the city's most "beautiful and magnificent structures". The lighting scheme was also praised. In the 1939 WPA Guide to New York City, workers for the Federal Writers' Project called the lighting scheme one of the city's "welcome landmarks", while in 1981, The New York Times described the Tower of Light as one of the "crowns of light" decorating the Manhattan skyline. References Notes Citations Sources External links Consolidated Edison Building on CTBUH Consolidated Edison Building on Emporis Consolidated Edison Building on Skyscraperpage.com Consolidated Edison Building on Structurae 14th Street (Manhattan) 1920s architecture in the United States 1928 establishments in New York City Beaux-Arts architecture in New York City Gramercy Park Henry Janeway Hardenbergh buildings National Historic Landmarks in Manhattan Neoclassical architecture in New York City New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan Office buildings completed in 1928 Skyscraper office buildings in Manhattan Union Square, Manhattan Warren and Wetmore buildings