At 26 stories the Terminal's neighbor stood five times as tall, with two imposing wings surrounding a center light court.

The terrace at the sixth-floor setback provided guests with a roof garden and occasional ice skating rink. As early as the 1920s the gold clock of the lobby was a well-known and popular meeting spot, for New Yorkers "Meet me under the clock," directed one to the Biltmore.

Not only known in popular culture, the hotel was the location of a number of important geo-politcal events. In 1916 the Treaty of the Danish West Indies was signed there, transferring the now U.S. Virgin Islands to America for $25 million in gold. In 1942 the Biltmore Conference was vital in the establishment of Palestine as a Jewish Commonwealth.

By the 1980s the once thriving area known as Terminal City was run down and full of aging structures. The Biltmore was closed in 1981 and, though a somewhat perfect candidate for landmark designation, the demolition of the structure began soon thereafter.

Shocked preservationists worked to save some of the interiors. The building was not fully razed, but was gutted, taken down to its steel framing, and rebuilt as 335 Madison Avenue. Today the rescued clock and piano live in the lobby of the new building.