Jay-Z’s Roc-Nation is headquartered on our block (on 26th Street)

About two weeks ago, a few of us were wondering what those “hands” were that were projecting from out of a U-Haul truck on 28th Street (shown here). Turns out those are Jay-Z’s hands, and his Roc Nation record label/entertainment company (which has signed Rihanna, A$AP Rocky, and J. Cole among others), is actually headquartered on our block. Roc Nation owns the top three floors of 540 West 26th Street (between 10th & 11th Avenues); the private school called Avenues owns the other floors. You will see the trademark paper planes if you stop by—and if you’re lucky, a tinted-out Escalade dropping off somebody famous.

We had posted a few weeks ago about the world-class recording studio on 27th Street that appeared to be drawing all sorts of artists to the block—and who you’ll find routinely getting late night snacks at the bodega on 10th Avenue between 27th & 28th Streets. Roc Nation, which contains its own recording studio and “social media theater,” might actually be the big draw here.