3.  The Metropolitan Museum Connection

In late 1925 the Metropolitan Museum of Art became the landlord of 280 Broadway. When Frank A. Munsey passed away that year, his will unexpectedly turned over most of his holdings, valued at $17 million (equivalent to $233 million today), to the Met, at the time the largest gift the institution had ever received.

While the Met quickly sold off the Sun and other Munsey publications, it held on to the building until 1928, when it sold the property to the Sun’s new owner, William Dewart. With the purchase, Dewart renamed 280 Broadway the Sun Building and added that name to the facade, an indication that he intended to keep the building for awhile.