CENTER OF ATTENTION Rockefeller Center stays in the spotlight.

Photograph: Courtesy Of The Skyscraper Museum

Rockefeller Center is living pretty large these days: Tourists flock to the GE Building’s renovated observation deck, music fans crowd the plaza Fridays in the summer for the latest Today show concert, and the site gets namechecked every week on NBC’s beloved comedy 30 Rock.

When John D. Rockefeller began construction on the 22-acre complex in 1930, however, critics balked at its enormity. “The scale was nothing like New York—or any American city—had seen,” says Daniel Okrent, author of Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center. “Lewis Mumford of The New Yorker went after it relentlessly throughout the 1930s. Of course, when it finally opened, he praised it to the heavens.”

Okrent will similarly applaud the midtown quad on Thu 8, when he joins writer James Sander, Skyscraper Museum founder Carol Willis and historian Hilary Bolton for “Rockefeller Center @ 75,” which honors the 1933 opening of iconic 30 Rockefeller Plaza. In addition to revisiting the Center’s history, speakers will address its cultural significance and value to the larger New York landscape.

The event is sponsored by the Skyscraper Museum, whose current exhibit, “New York Modern,” explores the high-rise fantasies of Gotham’s great architects—including skyscraper-spanning bridges dreamt up by Rock Center architect Raymond Hood. “It looks at what architects imagined the New York of the future would look like,” says museum spokeswoman Emma White. “We included Rockefeller Center because it was a vision that was realized.”

Okrent believes that aside from its size, what makes the Center so notable is that it was built with private funds. “Making it private encouraged the owners to keep it in great shape over the years. Look at all the amenities—the garden, the ice rink, the shops. Those were all commercial decisions,” he explains. “And you won’t see litter anywhere. Or big trucks, because all the deliveries are made underground.”

It might be old enough to cash Social Security checks, but Rock Center still has a lesson to offer future developers. “If you look at Lincoln Center, which the Rockefellers were also involved with, it’s a dead end. It’s like a Berlin Wall along Amsterdam Avenue,” says Okrent. “But you can walk right through Rockefeller Center to get from one part of town to another—it’s a part of the natural fabric of the city.” Are you listening, Mr. Ratner?

“Rockefeller Center @ 75” takes place May 8, 2008.