text: Air-conditioning units on each mechanical floor weighed a total of , making it "the largest fully air-conditioned building in New York". There are refrigeration units and steam turbine compressors on the 11th and 31st floors; the equipment on the 11th floor serves all stories below the 21st, while the equipment on the 31st floor serves all stories above the 22nd. An air-conditioning system is embedded in the ceiling of each story. The building was powered by transformer vaults in the first basement and the 51st floor, which in turn drew their power from primary feeders on the second basement. On the roof are a series of fans, which are hidden behind a four-story enclosure with a surrounding parapet.
  Plaza
  The plaza, officially known as the David Rockefeller Plaza since 2008, surrounds the tower and is slightly above the adjacent street, enclosed by a parapet. The plaza spans about . Due to the topography of the area, the northern end of the plaza is  above ground level, while the southern end is just above ground level. The plaza was unusual in that it was in a locale with extremely high land values "where land was worth up to $10 million an acre []". Legally, the plaza is private property rather than a privately owned public space. Access from the street to the plaza is relatively limited. Three marble staircases and two ramps connected the sidewalk to the plaza: a wide staircase and ramp from Pine Street to the south, a split staircase and ramp from Nassau and Cedar Streets to the west, and a smaller staircase from William and Cedar Streets to the east. The plaza is ten steps above Pine Street to the south.