There's a New Sheriff in Town." The "New Sheriff" was Thomas Alva Edison. Edison's work using alternating current would ultimately revolutionize electricity generation and distribution. He had spent decades perfecting and improving upon Edison's invention of the electric light bulb. 1901 Edison began to focus his efforts on electric distribution over high voltage (high tension) lines and on the AC power generation, even as AC distribution and AC power generation competed with DC power. The Edison company established a subsidiary, the Pearl Street Station, to produce AC for the whole of lower Manhattan, which led to a boom in commercial development in Lower Manhattan. From 1893 to 1902, there were five buildings under construction in lower Manhattan taller than feet. The only existing building taller was the Manhattan Company Building, at feet. Four of the buildings that would become the primary components of the Flatiron District had already been completed: The Flatiron Building in 1899 (height: , containing the offices of architect Daniel H. Burnham), the New York Times Building in 1900 (height: , containing the offices of publisher Adolph Ochs), the Colgate Palmolive Building in 1901 (height: , containing the offices of William A. Rogers), and the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Building in 1903 (height: , containing the offices of owner J.P. Morgan). By 1901, much of the commercial development in lower Manhattan had already been completed, and the commercial high point of this period may have been the opening of the Coliseum Theater (now the Nederlander Theatre) in September 1901. The New York Times Building, at tall, became the tallest building in New York, with a roof garden that rivaled those of the hotels. It also contained the offices of Adolph Ochs, the publisher of The New York Times, whose newspaper he owned. The Times Building would prove to be the most influential and most frequently cited of the new buildings, both aesthetically and architecturally. This period also witnessed the arrival of several large department stores, including two in 1907: Macy's, whose store at  feet was the tallest in the world, and Gimbels, whose store at  feet was the first department store to use escalators. Among the most famous residents of the Flatiron District were Alexander Pantages, a vaudeville entertainer and theatrical producer who led the Pantages vaudeville circuit, and David Belasco, an award-winning theater and Broadway producer who, with Pantages, operated the Palace Theatre. Belasco's company at one point ran all six theaters on Broadway. In late 1901, Samuel Seabury and Henry J. Bergh, Protestant Episcopal Bishop of New York, organized the National Civic Federation to promote the interests of the city's corporations and improve relationships among municipal officials. In 1902, Edison's company was merged with other corporations to create the General Electric Company, creating a single dominant electric utility in the United States. In 1903, William Nelson Cromwell, the former chief engineer of the World's Columbian Exposition, purchased the New York Times, using it to promote his own views of social and political reform. Also in 1903, Thomas Edison made a secret visit to Pottsville, Pennsylvania, to buy patents from the German-born George Francis Brantly. In 1905, Thomas Edison visited the Flatiron Building to attend the opening of a new theater in the building, as well as opening an exhibition of his latest creation, motion picture equipment. In 1907, Samuel Seabury was elected president of General Electric. 1907 Edison moved to England, where he would remain for the rest of his life. 1907 was also a year of major change for The New York Times. Its president, Joseph Howard, died at the age of 73 in June 1907. Former president Joseph Pulitzer Sr. died in February 1907 at the age of 67. His son, Joseph Pulitzer, Jr., assumed the presidency, and hired John R. Muir, an assistant editor of the rival New York World. Muir in turn recruited Herbert Bayard Swope, editor of The World. John R. Muir, whose brother was William E. Dodd, was the nephew of Samuel Gridley Howe, who was one of the founders of the American Peace Society, the first Peace Society, and was one of the first two secretaries of the American Anti-Slavery Society. 1907 was also a year of major change for J.P. Morgan, whose wife Caroline died in January 1907. That same year Morgan also hired Herbert Satterlee, and he became Morgan's partner when they established Satterlee & Mackie, a Wall Street firm with offices on Park Avenue at 34th Street. Also in 1907, William Randolph Hearst's company published a book about the Flatiron Building by its former editor, Arthur Brisbane, titled The Flatiron: An Architectural Sketchbook and Guide to the Trade. In 1908, the New York Telephone Company became the first telecommunications company in the United States to offer its customers direct-dialing service. The first telephone exchange in New York City was installed at the Edison building on 26th Street in Lower Manhattan. 1910 The American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), which had been formed by three telephone companies in 1895, began to offer service in New York City in September. 1910 was a particularly busy year for the construction of office buildings in the Flatiron District. In addition to the nine buildings erected in 1899, 1901, and 1903, four more buildings were built between 1906 and 1910. The Manhattan Company building, also known as the Manhattan Life Insurance Company building and the Pearl Street Station, at feet, was the tallest in the area at the time. The Flatiron Building was opened on April 25, 1910. The Edison Company Building, feet, was leased by J.P. Morgan, who had his offices there for many years. 1915 In 1915, the Edison Building was acquired by Satterlee & Mackie, and shortly thereafter, Morgan's offices were relocated to 39th Street at Fifth Avenue. On July 9, 1915, Morgan bought the New York Times Building. Between 1915 and 1920, Morgan leased out the space in the building for two different purposes: the publisher Harry Payne Whitney used it for office space, while the New York Times leased it for its home office. This period also witnessed the rise of J.P. Morgan's son, Thomas, who succeeded Morgan as head of Satterlee & Mackie. In 1915, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and his wife Abby Aldrich Rockefeller founded the Museum of Modern Art, which remains on 53rd Street to this day. In 1917, J.P. Morgan gave $5 million to the United States' Commission on Training Camp Activities to provide vocational education in military training camps. Morgan had also been influential in helping to create the Liberty Loan program and World War I draft. In 1918, J.P. Morgan was appointed a major general of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. Also in 1918, the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union led a strike of several thousand women garment workers in the garment industry in New York City and New Jersey. The strike ended with the signing of a new contract that granted the workers a six-hour workday, with three consecutive ten-hour shifts. 1918 also saw the demise of The New York Times Building. Harry Payne Whitney had the Times Building demolished in order to make way for a new building designed by Carrère and Hastings. In 1919, the building would be demolished to make way for the new building. In 1919, The New York Times returned to the Times Building after it was rebuilt. In 1919, General Electric bought the Edison building and placed the offices of the former Edison Company inside it. In 1919, J.P. Morgan's offices on the 39th Street side of the Flatiron Building were destroyed when a fire swept through the building on January 15. In 1920, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., gave $4 million to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 1921, Herbert Bayard Swope was appointed editor of The World newspaper. During the same year, the World Building was finished at 22 Broadway. It was at this point that the Flatiron Building began to decline. 1923 In 1923, J.P. Morgan and Thomas Lamont started their own investment company, J.P. Morgan & Co., and took over much of the business conducted at 22 Broadway. On December 4, 1923, John R. Muir and Herbert Satterlee sold The New York Times to Adolph Ochs, who moved the newspaper's headquarters to 51 East 53rd Street. In 1924, the newspaper's former headquarters was torn down to make way for another building designed by architect Ralph Walker, in association with architect Herbert J. Krapp. On July 24, 1924, the cornerstone of the new building was laid. In 1924, the World Building was completed, and The World began publication at its new offices at 25 Broad Street. In 1925, John R. Muir and Herbert Satterlee left the New York Times to form their own investment firm, Satterlee & Muir. J.P. Morgan & Co. had taken over most of The World's and