Elevator lobby

Perhaps the most interesting remaining element of this store's interior is the original elevator lobby on the ground floor. Like many buildings from this era, the elevators were clearly a point of pride and intended as a focal point, being located directly across from the main-ish entrance on 4th Ave and having an elaborate facade visible through much of the salesfloor. This store also had an absurd number of elevators -- there were originally 8 public elevators (for an 8-story building!) plus 6 service elevators behind these. At some point, that was reduced to 4 public elevators; the other four were closed off and I have no idea what the shafts were used for (as 6 new elevators were installed for the office space).