The Fire Storm of 1976 It used to be the Swift Printing Company, which moved out in 1969. The building sat vacant, deteriorating for 22 years. It almost met its maker in 1976, when the fire storm of 1976 engulfed all four corners of Locust and 21st Streets. The conflagration destroyed the two enormous buildings on the east side of 21st Street, one of which flattened a hook and ladder fire truck when it fell. The North Building suffered serious damage, and the heat damage is still visible on the beams in the Club Room in the South Building. Click here to see more shots of the fire.
The following years found the buildings in such disrepair that the makers of the movie Escape From New York felt that filming Kurt Russell stumbling out in front of them would give moviegoers the impression that Snake Pliskin really was walking in a post-apocalyptic Manhattan near the World Trade Center.
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