Consigliere on Nostr: In the heart of Manhattan, the Pan Am Building at 200 Park Avenue once symbolized the ...

In the heart of Manhattan, the Pan Am Building at 200 Park Avenue once symbolized the Jet-Set Era with its iconic rooftop helipad. Designed by Walter Gropius and Pietro Belluschi, the building offered a swift and luxurious connection from Manhattan to JFK Airport via helicopter flights operated by New York Airways from 1965 to 1968.

Passengers, often Pan Am’s first-class travelers, enjoyed a ten-minute journey on Vertol 107 helicopters, complete with pre-flight meals at the rooftop restaurant. Though this service briefly resumed in the late 1970s, a tragic accident in 1977 ended the helipad’s operations. The building, renamed MetLife in 1991, remains a reminder of a bygone era of urban air travel.