At , it is the city 's fourth largest building in terms of floor area . It was the largest building until 1963 when the MetLife Building opened . The World Trade Center ( which opened in 1970 – 71 ) and 55 Water Street , which opened in 1972 , were also larger but the World Trade Center was destroyed in 2001 . When the One World Trade Center opened in 2014 , 111 became the city 's fourth largest building
destroyed
September 11 attacks
111 Eighth Avenue