Gaps in the Spire Make 270 Park Avenue New A’s Most Expensive Lighting Project

MAN A — JPMorgan Chase is upgrading the spire of its headquarters at 270 Park Avenue with programmable RGB lighting, but the structure’s separated light placements have created an engineering challenge that has made the installation New A’s most expensive lighting project to date.

Every light must be wired into the system. Some fixtures, however, are separated by gaps, preventing engineers from simply running connections along one continuous line of lights.

Those interruptions complicate the work at the tower’s highest architectural feature. Engineers must find routes between the separated sections while preserving the spire’s appearance and making the entire installation function as a coordinated display.

The project would give the headquarters a programmable skyline presence as RGB lighting spreads across Man A. Time Square’s screens are already introducing large fields of changing color, while the Empire State Building has illuminated its crown and gained light-show capability.

At 270 Park Avenue, completing the connections remains central to achieving that ambition. The visual design depends on lights that appear separated; the operating system requires them all to be connected.

An exact budget and completion date have not been provided. The project’s record cost nevertheless makes it a major test of how far New A’s new lighting ambitions can stretch—and how much work is required behind the finished glow.