# The Titanpointe (DD-400)

> The AT&T Long Lines Building at 33 Thomas Street in Manhattan is a 550-foot (168 m) windowless brutalist tower completed in 1974, designed by John Carl Warnecke & Associates to house long-distance telephone switching equipment and to withstand disasters, including nuclear fallout. In 2016, The Intercept reported that documents linked it to a National Security Agency surveillance site code-named Titanpointe; AT&T and the NSA did not confirm. The footage shows the building from street level.

- Department: Locations (also History)
- First published: 2024-11-30
- Last updated: 2024-11-30
- Permalink: https://detailenjoyer.com/case/the-titanpointe/
- Author: Marcus Easterling (DetailEnjoyer), The Detail Department

## On the timeline

- **1974**: 33 Thomas Street completed

Full timeline: https://detailenjoyer.com/timeline/?case=the-titanpointe

## Quick facts

- **DD-400-F01**: 33 Thomas Street. _(Write-up · Exhibit A (Address))_
- **DD-400-F02**: 550 ft. _(Write-up · Exhibit B (Height))_

## Write-up

A 550-foot windowless tower stands in lower Manhattan. It was built in 1974 to house telephone switching equipment.

1. **Address**: 33 Thomas Street.
2. **Height**: 550 ft.
3. **Completed**: 1974.
4. **Architect**: John Carl Warnecke.
5. **2016 report**: The Intercept linked it to Titanpointe.

## Related case files

- [One World Trade Center (DD-473)](https://detailenjoyer.com/case/one-world-trade-center/): I linked another New York tower

## Reel vs. record

- **Note**: The speech-to-text rendered the architect as 'John Karl Wernicke'; the firm was John Carl Warnecke & Associates.

## Video: The Titanpointe: A 550-Foot Windowless Tower Stands in Lower Manhattan

- Duration: 23.8 s · Published: 2024-11-30
- File: https://detailenjoyer.com/assets/videos/DDAYvDQJ9M1.mp4

### Transcript

Did you know? The AT&T Long Lines building, located at 33 Thomas Street in Manhattan, is a 550-foot-tall windowless skyscraper completed in 1974 and designed in the brutalist architectural style by John Carl Warnecke. Originally constructed to house telephone-switching equipment, it served as a critical hub for long-distance communications with its fortress-like design intended to protect against nuclear attacks and other disasters. NOW YOU KNOW!

## Questions & answers

**Q: Where is it?**  
A: Lower Manhattan. _(Source: Write-up · Exhibit A (Address) · Wikipedia: 33 Thomas Street)_

**Q: How tall?**  
A: Windowless. _(Source: Write-up · Exhibit B (Height) · Wikipedia: 33 Thomas Street)_

**Q: When completed?**  
A: 1970s. _(Source: Write-up · Exhibit C (Completed) · Wikipedia: 33 Thomas Street)_

**Q: What did it house?**  
A: AT&T. _(Source: Write-up · Exhibit D (Architect) · Wikipedia: 33 Thomas Street)_

**Q: Who reported the Titanpointe link?**  
A: 2016. _(Source: Write-up · Exhibit E (2016 report) · Wikipedia: 33 Thomas Street)_

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: 33 Thomas Street](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/33_Thomas_Street)

## Cite this case file

Easterling, Marcus. "The Titanpointe." The Detail Department (DetailEnjoyer), case file DD-400, last updated Nov 30, 2024. https://detailenjoyer.com/case/the-titanpointe/