While most agencies are shut down over the holiday break, members of Y&R, New York's team will use the time to set up a new temporary office space to service clients. The move is sparked by the tragic passing of its employees, Suzanne Hart.
Y&R will shift its employees from its current headquarters on Madison Avenue to an office on Park Avenue, directly across from Grand Central Terminal. Major tenants in that building include Reed Elsevier, Canon Business Solutions, Newmark Knight Frank and Chase Bank.
Although the Y&R building -- which is owned by parent company WPP -- is slated to reopen Jan. 3, the lower bank of elevators won't be operational since they are part of a continuing investigation being carried out on behalf of the New York City Department of Buildings into the circumstances around Ms. Hart's death last week, which was due to a malfunctioning elevator.
Since many agency staffers, including those at WPP's Wunderman, have offices located on upper floors, it's impractical to expect staff to have staircase access and be forced to walk up, in some cases as many as 20 flights of stairs each day.
"We have decided to temporarily move Y&R to alternative space close by at 125 Park Avenue," said the agency in a statement: "Over the holiday break, we will completely transplant our agency operations there. Y&R has been operating fully since last week's accident and will be up and running again fully in the new temporary space. We hope to have everyone back at 285 Madison as soon as possible."