Often included, along with the Tribune and Western Union buildings, in the trio called "New York's first skyscrapers," the first headquarters of the Equitable Life Assurance Society was a seven-story building. The upper-floor offices were leased at high rents because the building was the first in the city to include elevators–two "vertical steam cars" that rose in 130-foot shafts.[1]. The skyscraper was designed in the neoclassical style. It is 555 feet tall, with 38 stories and 1.2 million square feet of floor space. Designed without setbacks, the building's articulation consists of three horizontal sections - a base, shaft, and capital.At its construction, the world's largest building. Public outcry over its bulk caused New York City to establish its first zoning law in 1916.The Equitable Building replaced the Equitable Life Building, the previous headquarters of the Equitable Life Insurance Company, which burned down in 1912. Upon opening, it was the largest office building in the world by floor area. The Equitable Building hosted a variety of tenants and, by the 1920s, was the most valuable building in New York City. The Equitable Life Insurance Company, the building's namesake, occupied a small portion of the building until it moved out during 1960.