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Book Review: NY Skyscrapers

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NY Skyscrapers

Dirk Stichweh, photos by Jörg Machirus and Scott Murphy | 192 pages | Prestel | 2016

This is a magnificent celebration of the buildings that make New York’s skyline so exciting. The large 9½ʺ x 12½ʺ format and brilliant color photography make “NY Skyscrapers” a joy to browse again and again. You’ll find the city’s classic icons, of course, but also less-photographed and under-appreciated structures such as the West Street Building, Crown Building, and Paramount Building. Half of the photos are high-angle shots – seemingly from a helicopter or nearby buildings – so even familiar landmarks seem fresh. Each of the book’s 82 buildings is described with concise architectural commentary.

“NY Skyscrapers” provides context three ways: The volume begins with a history of skyscrapers in New York City; downtown and midtown skyscrapers are grouped, with maps; and numerous aerial group photos show the buildings’ relationship to their neighborhoods.

While any book on this subject is soon out of date, “NY Skyscrapers” includes renderings and descriptions of eight under-construction buildings scheduled to be completed by 2020.

More reviews at NYC Architecture: Books

East Village - Cooper Union Foundation Building

East Village (Manhattan)

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Work In Progress: This neighborhood gallery is not yet complete.

The East Village was once among New York’s most prestigious residential neighborhoods, with elegant architecture in classical styles. In the mid-1800s wealthy New Yorkers moved “uptown” and waves of immigrants moved in. Pieces of Germany, Eastern Europe, and much later Latin America all became part of the Lower East Side tenement tapestry.

More than 30 individual landmarks and four historic districts earned protection of The NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. The top 12 are referenced below. The NYC Landmarks Map is highly recommended!

One of the most important landmarks anchors the northwest corner of the district: The Cooper Union Foundation Building. This building was the first to use rolled iron “I” beams, so essential to development of skyscrapers. The building also contained an elevator shaft – even before passenger elevators were available. Additionally, this is where then-candidate Abraham Lincoln gave an address that catapulted him to the nomination and the Presidency.

The photos here are just a sampling of the most picturesque buildings.

East Village Recommended Reading
East Village Building Photos

◉ = Landmark. This table is sortable and searchable.

LMname#streetbuiltarchitect
Astor Place IRT Subway EntranceAstor Placeunknown
↗51Astor Place2013Fumihiko Maki
●Cooper Union Foundation Building50Astor Place1859Frederick A. Peterson
141Avenue Aunknown
●First Houses29Avenue A1936Frederick L. Ackerman
50Avenue Bunknown
131Avenue B
●Grace Church800Broadway1846James Renwick, Jr.
The Standard, East Village25Cooper Place2009Carlos Zapata, Perkins Eastman
Cooper Union41Cooper Square2009Thom Mayne - Morphosis
206E 10th Streetunknown
213E 10th Streetunknown
Dora Park Apartments172E 10th Streetunknown
Sarah Powell Huntington House347E 10th Streetunknown
●293E 10th Streetunknown
●317E 10th Street1848James C. Whitlock
●329E 10th Street1853
●311E 10th Street1853
●St. Nicholas of Myra Orthodox Church288E 10th Street1883James Renwick, Jr.
●Tompkins Square Branch, NY Public Library331E 10th Street1904McKim, Mead & White
All Saints Ukrainian Orthodox Church206E 11th Street1852unknown
●Webster Hall125E 11th Street1886Charles Rentz
●St. Marks Rectory232E 11th Street1900Ernest Flagg
●NYC Free Public Bath538E 11th Street1905Arnold William Brunner
126E 12th Streetunknown
St. Ann's Church120E 12th Street1847unknown
●Elizabeth Home for Girls307E 12th Street1892Calvert Vaux
151E 3rd Street
141E 3rd Street
Most Holy Redeemer Church165E 3rd Street
246E 4th Streetunknown
235E 4th Street
●Merchant House Museum29E 4th Street1832unknown
542E 5th Street
545E 5th Street
●226E 6th Street1890Jobst Hoffman
●228E 6th Street1890Jobst Hoffman
●Tompkin Square Lodging House295E 8th Street1887Calvert Vaux
206E 9th Streetunknown
True North127Fourth Avenueunknown
U.S. Post Office - Cooper Station93Fourth Avenueunknown
●Grace Memorial94Fourth Avenue1883James Renwick, Jr.
141Second Avenueunknown
144Second Avenueunknown
145Second Avenueunknown
151Second Avenueunknown
159Second Avenueunknown
166Second Avenueunknown
170Second Avenueunknown
12th Street Ale House192Second Avenue
●St. Mark's in the Bowery Church165Second Avenue1799Ithiel Towne, unknown
●101Second Avenue1880Julius Boekell
●Ottendorfer Branch, NY Public Library135Second Avenue1884William Schickel
●Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital137Second Avenue1884William Schickel
●71Second Avenue1886Adam Munch
●69Second Avenue1887Julius Kastner
●77Second Avenue1903George F. Pelham
●97Second Avenue1903Sass & Smallheiser
●65Second Avenue1926Charles B. Meyers
●105Second Avenue1926Harrison Wiseman
●Village East189Second Avenue1926Harrison G. Wiseman
●Saul Birns Building111Second Avenue1928Ralph H. Segal
8St. Marks Placeunknown
10St. Marks Placeunknown
32St. Marks Placeunknown
●Daniel Leroy House20St. Marks Place1832unknown
●German-American Shooting Society Clubhouse12St. Marks Place1889William C. Frohne
Barney Building - NYU28Stuyvesant Street1896unknown
●Nicholas and Elizabeth Stuyvesant Fish House21Stuyvesant Street1804unknown
110Third Avenue

Google Map

Greenwich Village signs

Greenwich Village

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Work In Progress: This neighborhood gallery is not yet complete.

New York’s Greenwich Village preserves two centuries of architectural treasures. These photos only hint at the historical architecture protected by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1969.

Although “the Village” usually includes West Village, NoHo, and East Village, this gallery excludes those subdivisions – which have their own galleries.

As befits the district’s bohemian/counterculture image, the streets here ignore (because they predate) Manhattan’s street grid. Hence, you’ll find West 4th Street and West 10th Street intersecting, when they should be parallel, six blocks apart. Getting lost may be fun, but first-time visitors will want to bring a map!*

Wikipedia summarizes:

Greenwich Village, often referred to by locals as simply “the Village,” is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan, New York City. Greenwich Village has been known as an artists’ haven, the Bohemian capital, the cradle of the modern LGBT movement, and the East Coast birthplace of both the Beat and ’60s counterculture movements. Groenwijck, one of the Dutch names for the village (meaning “Green District”), was Anglicized to Greenwich. New York University (NYU) is located in Greenwich Village.

Greenwich Village has undergone extensive gentrification and commercialization; the four zip codes that constitute the Village – 10011, 10012, 10013, and 10014 – were all ranked among the ten most expensive in the United States by median housing price in 2014, according to Forbes, with residential property sale prices in the West Village neighborhood typically exceeding US$2,000 per square foot ($22,000/m2) in 2016.

Highly recommended: NYC Landmarks Map

* P.S., the West Village’s Gay Street has nothing to do with sexual orientation. Go ahead, Google it!

Greenwich Village Recommended Reading
Greenwich Village Architecture Photos
Building / Address Year Architect
1 Fifth Avenue 1927 Helme & Corbett, Sugarman & Berger
37 Washington Square West 1928 Gronenberg & Leuchtag
39 Fifth Avenue 1922 Emery Roth
Beauclaire / 25 E 9th Street, 26 E 10th Street, 40 University Place 1926 Sugarman & Berger
Cable Building / 611 Broadway 1894 McKim, Mead & White
Devonshire House / 28 E 10th Street 1926 Emery Roth
Lockwood de Forest house / 7 E 10th Street 1887 Van Campen Taylor
The New School / 63 Fifth Avenue 2014 Skidmore Owings & Merrill
Novarre / 135 W 4th Street 1860 Charles Hadden
Roosevelt Building 1894 Stephen D. Hatch
Wordsworth / 21 E 10th Street 1926 Sugarman & Berger

Google Map Note: Google’s definition includes the West Village; this gallery encompasses only the area east of Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas).

NYC Landmarks Map

West Village

West Village (Manhattan)

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The West Village runs from Sixth Avenue to the Hudson River, between W 14th Street and W Houston Street. Almost all of the neighborhood is protected by landmark status, preserving centuries of history. As the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission noted:

“Greenwich Village is one of the oldest sections of Manhattan which was laid out for development in the years following the American Revolution. Today, it contains the greatest concentration of early New York residential architecture to be found anywhere within the five Boroughs of the City.

“Unlike Chelsea, Gramercy Park and other small residential islands in Manhattan which have managed to survive from the last century, Greenwich Village is unique because it is the only good-sized residential area which has remained largely intact and where the architecture reflects the continuum of a community. Many old buildings have retained their old uses while others, treasured as architecture, have been preserved to serve new and viable uses. Thus a sashmaker’s workshop, a medical dispensary, a malt house, a public livery stable, a fire station, a court house, a grocery or drygoods shop and dozens of other structures, built to serve the early community, are today as much a part of the architectural and historical heritage of The Village as are its many fine town houses, smaller dwellings and churches.”

Highly recommended: NYC Landmarks Map

West Village Recommended Reading
West Village Buildings Pictured
Building / Address Year Architect
1 Christopher Street 1931 Van Wart & Wein
2 Cornelia Street 1907 Fred Ebeling
11 Christopher Street 2006 Richard A. Cook
12 & 14 Gay Street 1828 Daniel H. Weed, Joseph D. Baldwin
15 Barrow Street 1896 H. Hasenstein
17 Grove Street 1822 unknown
19 Barrow Street 1834 David Christie, John W. Christie
25 Barrow Street 1826 Jacob Shute
45 Christopher Street 1931 Russell M. Boak and Hyman F. Paris
172 Waverly Place 1868 Richard A. Davis
224 W 4th Street 1932 Phelps Barnum
228 Bleecker Street 1901 Michael Bernstein
255 W 10th Street / 519-525 Hudson Street 1889 Rentz & Lange
257 W 10th Street 1889 Rentz & Lange
259 W 10th Street / 697 Greenwich Street 1892 Martin V.B. Ferdon
473-477 Hudson Street 1825 James N. Wells
527 Hudson Street 1858 unknown
679 Greenwich Street / 139 Christopher Street 1900 F.A. Burdett
Church of St. Luke in the Fields / 479 Hudson Street 1822 James N. Wells
The Gansvoort / 95 Christopher Street 1931 H.I. Feldman
Jane Hotel / 113 Jane Street / 505 West Street 1908 William A. Boring
One Jackson Square / 122 Greenwich Avenue 2011 Kohn Pederson Fox Associates
Our Lady of Pompeii / 240 Bleecker Street 1928 Matthew W. Del Guadio
PATH Christopher Street Station / 137 Christopher Street 1906 Robins & Oakman
Public School 3 / 97 Bedford Street 1906 C.B.J. Snyder
Shenandoah / 10 Sheridan Square 1929 Emery Roth
St. John’s Lutheran Church / 81 Christopher Street 1822 Berg & Clark
St. Joseph’s Church / 365 Sixth Avenue 1834 John Doran, Arthur Crook (1885 repair & alteration)
St. Veronica’s Church / 149 Christopher Street 1890 John J. Deery
Standard Hotel / 848 Washington Street 2009 Ennead Architects (formerly Polshek Partnership)
The Waverly / 136 Waverly Place 1928 Walter S. Schneider

NYC Landmarks Map

Google Map

1 Christopher Street

1 Christopher Street

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1 Christopher Street is an imposing Neo-Federalist apartment house in the heart of Greenwich Village, towering over nearby landmarks Stonewall Inn and Jefferson Market Courthouse.

The 16-story structure was built in 1931. Architects Van Wart & Wein designed One Christopher six years after their Beekman Mansions on E 51st Street. The pair are an interesting contrast. One Christopher is best viewed from afar, as its best architectural details are a dozen stories up. Beekman Mansions is best viewed close up, as its architectural details are in the four-story base.

Retail spaces are at street level along the Greenwich Avenue facade; 131 rental apartments – studios and one-bedroom units – rise above.

Largely because of the views, City Realty calls the building “one of the finest pre-war rental apartment buildings in Greenwich Village.” Thanks to Greenwich Village’s landmark status, those views will be preserved for decades to come.

1 Christopher Street Vital Statistics
  • Location: 1 Christopher Street at Greenwich Avenue (aka 7 Greenwich Avenue)
  • Year completed: 1931
  • Architect: Van Wart & Wein
  • Floors: 16
  • Style: neo-Federalist
  • New York City Landmark: 1969 (Greenwich Village Historic District)
1 Christopher Street Recommended Reading

Google Map

The Waverly, 136 Waverly Place

Waverly

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The Waverly is a beautifully maintained West Village landmark, erected in 1927-1928. The 16-story apartment building was designed by Walter S. Schneider.

The structure uses brickwork to achieve most of its texture – the spandrels and simulated quoins. The two-story entry is of stone and terra cotta; there are terra cotta decorations on the top two floors reminiscent of Herman Lee Meader’s Cliff Dwelling.

The cooperative includes street-level retail space along Sixth Avenue, and 76 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments.

If the building looks familiar, it may be because it’s the TV home of “Mad Men” character Don Draper.

Waverly Vital Statistics
  • Location: 136 Waverly Place at 6th Avenue (aka 375-379 Sixth Avenue)
  • Year completed: 1928
  • Architect: Walter S. Schneider
  • Floors: 16
  • Style: Art Deco
  • New York City Landmark: 1969
Waverly Recommended Reading

Google Map

10 Sheridan Square

10 Sheridan Square

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10 Sheridan Square, aka Shenandoah Apartments, is distinctive West Village architecture. The two-story base blends stone and brick, and the wedge-shaped building rises 14 stories above a predominantly low-rise district.

The Emery Roth-designed structure remains a rental building of primarily studio and one-bedroom apartments.

Emery Roth designed four other residences in Greenwich Village: 1 University Place, 28 E 10th Street (Devonshire House), 59 W 12th Street, and 299 W 12th Street.

10 Sheridan Square Vital Statistics
  • Location: 10 Sheridan Square / 80 Grove Street at corner of Grove Street and W 4th Street
  • Year completed: 1929
  • Architect: Emery Roth
  • Floors: 14
  • Style: neo-Romanesque
  • New York City Landmark: 1969 (Greenwich Village Historic District)
10 Sheridan Square Recommended Reading

Google Map

Google Earth aerial view

NoHo - Bayard Condict Building

NoHo (Manhattan)

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NoHo – for NOrth of HOuston* Street (as contrasted with SoHo, SOuth of HOuston Street) is a landmarked, primarily residential upper-class neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The district is wedged between Greenwich Village and the East Village. It is bounded by Broadway to the west and the Bowery to the east, and from East 9th Street in the north to East Houston Street in the south.

Through four separate designations (see below) in 1966, 1999, 2003, and 2008, the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission has preserved almost the entire district. Modern glass towers have sprouted up at the fringes, and even within the district – before the LPC could act.

* Attention, visitors: New Yorkers pronounce this as HOW-ston Street.

NoHo Recommended Reading
NoHo Buildings Pictured
Building / Address Year Architect
10 Astor Place aka 444 Lafayette Street 1876 Griffith Thomas
640 Broadway 1897 DeLemos & Cordes
700 Broadway 1891 George B. Post
Astor Place, 445 Lafayette Street 2005 Gwathmey, Siegel & Associates
Bayard-Condict Building, 65 Bleecker Street 1899 Louis H. Sullivan and Lyndon P. Smith
Bleecker Tower, 644 Broadway 1891 Decatur Hatch
Engine Company 33, 42 Great Jones Street 1898 Ernest Flagg, W.B. Chambers
Schermerhorn Building, 380 Lafayette Street 1888 Henry Janeway Hardenbergh

Google Map

51 Astor Place

51 Astor Place

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51 Astor Place, scorned as the “Death Star” of Greenwich Village, is an imaginative form for the irregular former site of Cooper Union’s engineering school.

The Village Voice‘s harsh words may be familiarity-bred contempt. The Voice was headquartered just two blocks south during the years of construction.

Certainly, the blue-black mirror-glass edifice towers over and clashes with most of its low-rise masonry landmark neighbors. Paradoxically, the reflective facade makes the 1906 landmark Wanamaker’s Annex twice as prominent.

Viewed from the west, the Fourth Avenue facade seems simple a simple monolith, like a giant tower PC. (A fitting image, as the prime tenant is IBM!) From any other angle, the irregular pentagon takes on more complex forms. The east side of the tower incorporates an optical illusion. The wall is split diagonally into narrow panes of light-colored glass above wide panes of dark-colored glass, giving the appearance of a faceted facade. The view from above (via Google Earth) is revealing.

The eastern side of the building – with separate entry numbered 101 Astor Place – is now the Manhattan campus of St. John’s University.

Meanwhile, Architect Magazine explains why and how the Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue facades are different. The Metals in Construction article explains the building’s complexities.

51 Astor Place Vital Statistics
  • Location: 51 Astor Place: block bounded by E 9th Street, Third Avenue, E 8th Street, Fourth Avenue
  • Year completed: 2013
  • Architect: Fumihiko Maki
  • Floors: 12
  • Style: Postmodern
51 Astor Place Recommended Reading

Google Map

2 Cornelia Street

2 Cornelia Street

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2 Cornelia Street, also known as the Varitype Building and “the Greenwich Flatiron,” is a distinctive wedge-shaped loft building turned residential condominium in 1982.

The building was originally intended for light manufacturing, offices, and artists’ lofts, according to the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. As a result, the apartments have ample windows under 11-foot ceilings. Thanks to the neighborhood’s landmark status, views all around are protected from high-rise incursion.

Even though the building isn’t particularly luxurious, a 2 BR/2 Bath unit on the 2nd floor is renting for $7,500/month, while a 4 BR/3.5 Bath 10th/11th floor duplex is offered at $23,000/month. A 6th floor 2 BR/2.5 Bath apartment is listed for sale at $2.5 million.

2 Cornelia Street Vital Statistics
  • Location: 2 Cornelia Street at Sixth Avenue
  • Year completed: 1907
  • Architect: Fred Ebeling
  • Floors: 12
  • Style: Arts and Crafts
  • New York City Landmark: 2010 (Greenwich Village Historic District Extension II)
2 Cornelia Street Recommended Reading

Google Map