The clock that Seymour Durst vowed would stay up as long as the country’s “debt or the city lasts,” is coming down again — at least for now.
The National Debt Clock at 1133 Sixth Avenue will be taken down on Thursday to make way for a new entrance at the Durst Organization’s [TRDataCustom] building, the New York Post reported. The developer installed the original clock, which estimates the United States’ current national debt and each family’s share of it, in 1989 at Sixth Avenue and 42nd Street. At the time, the debt was under $3 trillion.
The original clock, which was made up of 306 light bulbs, was replaced with a digital version and moved from its initial location when the Dursts demolished a low-rise building to make way for One Bryant Park. In a few weeks, the clock will be moved back to One Bryant Park.
Douglas Durst had to add one more digit to the clock after the national debt broke $10 trillion in 2008. As of Monday, the clock placed the national debt at $19 trillion and each family’s share at more than $168,000.
According to the Durst Organization, the clock blocks the new entrance planned for one of the building’s tenants, Take-Two Interactive. The software company, which counts “Grand Theft Auto” among its creations, inked a 15-year lease last year for 61,383 square feet in the building. [NYP] — Kathryn Brenzel