Tag Archives: midtown

Union Square and Vicinity II

Collections, Manhattan, , , ,

Union Square was once known for political rallies and the annual May Day rally. The park was overrun by druggies in the ’70s. Union Square has since been cleaned up – figuratively and literally – with new fences, new landscaping and new pavement from East 14th Street to East 17th Street. The peddlers are still out in force, though their products are now veggies, art and souvenirs instead of drugs.

While the square itself has gone through a transformation, many of the buildings ringing the park have retained their 19th century appearance. Here are some favorites:

  • One Union Square West aka Lincoln Building; R. H. Robertson, architect; Romanesque Revival; built 1900; NYC Landmark 1988
  • 5-9 Union Square West aka Spingler Building;
  • 31 Union Square West aka Bank of Metropolis Building; Bruce Price, architect; neo-Renaissance; built 1903; NYC Landmark 1988
  • 33 Union Square West aka Decker Building aka Union Building; John H. Edelmann, architect; Venetian/Islamic styles; built 1893; NYC Landmark 1988
  • 41 Union Square West aka Hartford Building; Beaux Arts; built 1895
  • 33 E 17th Street aka Century Building (now Barnes & Noble bookstore);
  • W Union Square Hotel; formerly Germania Life Insurance Company Building
  • 864 Broadway aka McIntyre Building; R. H. Robertson, architect; neo-Gothic; built 1892; in Ladies Mile Historic District

One landmark that didn’t survive is the S. Klein “On The Square” department store that sat empty for many years – now replaced by the Zeckendorf Towers.

Union Square Vital Statistics
  • Location: E 14th to E 17th Streets, between Park Avenue South and Union Square West
  • National Register of Historic Places: 1997
Union Square Recommended Reading

Google Map

Decker Building

Manhattan, , , , , , , , , ,

Decker Building (aka Union Building) is a delight to look at, and fascinating in its history. The white, 12-story limestone and brick facade is lavishly decorated with lacy terra cotta patterns. The windows – some with Venetian-style Juliet balconies – are elaborate works of art in themselves. And the two-story tower, once topped by a minaret, is filled with Moorish ogee (horseshoe) arches.

As befits such a radical building, the Decker Building was designed by John Edelmann, a Cleveland, Ohio-born anarchist so radical that he was expelled from the Socialist Labor Party. At the time, Edelmann was working for New York architect Alfred Zucker. (Louis H. Sullivan, a much more prominent architect, credited his success to Edelmann.)

The original owner, and tenant until 1913, was The Decker Piano Company. The building was then acquired (and renamed Union Square Building) by Lowenfeld & Prager, which traded the property in 1916. In more recent years, The Union Building reverted to The Decker Building. Andy Warhol’s second “Factory” was located on the sixth floor from 1968 to 1974. This is where, in 1968, playwright Valerie Solanas shot Andy Warhol and art critic Mario Amaya.

The building was sold in foreclosure in 1994 to Windsor Construction Company; architect Joseph Pell Lombardi oversaw restoration of the facade. The building now houses a ground floor store and 18 residential units.

Decker Building Vital Statistics
  • Location: 33 Union Square West
  • Year completed: 1893
  • Architect: John H. Edelmann
  • Floors: 12
  • Style: Moorish Revival and Venetian
  • New York City Landmark: 1988
  • National Register of Historic Places: 2003
Decker Building Recommended Reading

Google Map

Grand Madison Apartments

Manhattan, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Grand Madison Apartments is now in its third life. It was originally conceived as a replacement for the Brunswick Hotel, but built as offices instead under the name Brunswick Building. Later it became a showroom center, the Gift and Art Center Building. And since 2006, it has been luxury condominium apartments, attracting the likes of Chelsea Clinton and her husband (who have since moved, but I felt like name-dropping).

Curiously, although Grand Madison Apartments overlooks Madison Square Park and the Flatiron Building, the official website identifies instead with Gramercy Park – eight blocks away.

Grand Madison Apartments Vital Statistics
  • Location: 225 Fifth Avenue between E 26th and E27th Streets
  • Year completed: 1907
  • Architect: Francis H. Kimball and Harry E. Donnell
  • Floors: 12
  • Style: Beaux Arts
  • New York City Landmark: June 26, 2001
Grand Madison Apartments Recommended Reading

Google Map

Library Hotel

Manhattan, , , , , , , ,

Library Hotel, a Gothic Revival sliver on Madison Avenue at E 41st Street, stands out. Literally. The building’s distinctive copper-skinned bay windows project out from the building line, so occupants can look straight up Madison Avenue.

Built in 1913, the 12-story office building was originally headquarters of the Fred F. French company, a vertically-integrated real estate/architectural/construction firm. French eventually moved to Fifth Avenue and the character (and number) of tenants at 299 Madison changed over the years, until it lay vacant in the 1990s.

In 1999 new owners converted the offices into a library-themed boutique hotel – somehow fitting six rooms into each 25-by-100-foot floor. Stephen B. Jacob Group was the conversion architect.

Library Hotel Vital Statistics
  • Location: 299 Madison Avenue at E 41st Street
  • Year completed: 1913
  • Architect: Hill & Stout
  • Floors: 12
  • Style: Gothic Revival
Library Hotel Recommended Reading

Google Map

Museum of Arts & Design

Manhattan, , , , , , , , ,

Museum of Arts & Design is, by almost all accounts, an improvement over the former Gallery of Modern Art – on the inside. But the exterior changes brought forth a firestorm of criticism and even charges that the museum tried to subvert the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Preservationists wanted to keep the Edward Stone-designed facade intact; the museum envisioned radical changes.

The issue was never formally considered by the Commission – no public hearings were ever held. The Department of Buildings issued the necessary permits, and reconstruction proceeded according to Allied Works/Brad Cloepfil plans.

One might consider the glass-slashed design bizarre – but there were also many who felt pretty strongly that the old design was also bizarre.

Personally, I was not a fan of the old design. Eight windowless floors of marble was too cold – like a tombstone or a Verizon switching center. I’m not too fond of the new design, either, but it strikes me as at least more dynamic and in keeping with the swirling traffic of Columbus Circle.

Meanwhile, back on the inside… Those slashes in the facade bring natural light into the galleries where before there was none. And the stairs were redone so they’re usable, not just emergency exits; it’s easier to get up, down and around the building. Those improvements appear to have been made without sacrificing wall or gallery space, so I’d count that as a net gain.

The “Recommended Reading” links explore the history and controversy in depth; the Steel Institute and Allied Works links reveal under-the-skin construction details. Enjoy!

Museum of Arts & Design Vital Statistics
  • Location: 2 Columbus Circle
  • Year completed: 1964; reconstruction: 2008
  • Architect: Edward Durell Stone; redesign: Brad Cloepfil
  • Floors: 11
  • Style: Postmodern
Museum of Arts & Design Recommended Reading

Google Map

Towne House

Manhattan, , , , , , , , , , ,

Towne House stands out in the Murray Hill Historic District. Amid blocks of low rise brownstones, Towne House towers 25 floors in Art Deco brick. It replaced five mid-1800s row houses, and touched off a lawsuit by neighbors who tried to block construction.

Despite its height and architectural style, at street level the building does blend in with the block; the most remarkable aspect is Towne House’s colorfully detailed tower, which catches the eye from blocks around.

Towne House Vital Statistics
  • Location: 108 E 38th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues
  • Year completed: 1930
  • Architect: Bowden & Russell with Emery Roth
  • Floors: 25
  • Style: Art Deco
  • New York City Landmark: 2002 (part of Murray Hill Historic District)
Towne House Recommended Reading

Google Map

Fraternity Clubs Building

Manhattan, , , , , , , , , ,

Fraternity Clubs Building, aka Jolly Madison Towers Hotel, was built in 1923 by the Allerton Hotel Group, which specialized in club-like residence hotels. Allerton had six hotels in New York City. Now under its fifth name, the hotel still honors its past.

The Fraternity Clubs Building became Midston House in the 1930s, then Hotel Lancaster in the 1960s, then Madison Towers, and currently Jolly Madison Towers. The building is scantly covered in traditional architectural sources – but detailed on page 4 of the Delta Chi Quarterly 1994-95 Winter.

At street level the Renaissance Revival-style building is distinctive but not remarkable – the Madison Avenue facade looks a bit run down. A series of nine fraternal crests adorn the second story along both the Madison Avenue and E 38th Street facades; an unidentified bas relief ship (the Mayflower?) decorates the corner. The best views are the building’s east side, seen from Park Avenue. The tower’s tapestry brickwork, arches, arcades, octagonal cupolas, and red-tiled roofs are glorious.

Fraternity Clubs Building Vital Statistics
  • Location: 22 E 38th Street
  • Year completed: 1923
  • Architect: Murgatroyd & Ogden
  • Floors: 16
  • Style: Renaissance Revival
Fraternity Clubs Building Recommended Reading

Google Map

Gilsey House Hotel

Manhattan, , , , , , , , , , ,

Gilsey House Hotel is one of the last reminders that this stretch of Broadway – between Madison Square and Herald Square – was the social center of the city. There were six theaters on the three blocks between 28th and 31st Streets; so many music publishers were on neighboring 28th Street, the sound of their pianos gave rise to the name “Tin Pan Alley.” A block west, meanwhile, was the notorious “Tenderloin” district of brothels and gambling clubs.

The Gilsey House Hotel was among the most luxurious in the city, but a legal battle between the Gilsey family and the hotel operator shut the property down. In 1911 the Gilsey House Hotel became lofts serving the garment industry. In 1980 the building was converted to condominium apartments, and the facade was restored in 1992 – though missing most of the outer set of columns, which had extended over the building line. (See the Wikipedia article for a photo of the original design.)

Gilsey House Hotel Vital Statistics
  • Location: 1200 Broadway at W 29th Street
  • Year completed: 1871
  • Architect: Stephen Decatur Hatch
  • Floors: 8
  • Style: Second Empire
  • New York City Landmark: 1979
  • National Register of Historic Places: 1978
Gilsey House Hotel Recommended Reading

Google Map

300 Madison Avenue

Manhattan, , , , , , ,

300 Madison Avenue is the boxy glass and steel tower on 42nd Street whose mirrored facade is scored with steel fins. But it’s what’s under the skin that’s innovative.

Excavation was already under way when two events dictated radical design changes: 9/11, and the space requirements of Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC), which leased two-thirds of the building from prime tenant Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) World Market.

The owners, Brookfield Financial Properties, decided to harden the design to withstand catastrophic damage, and at the same time create large trading floors in the eight-story base for PWC. Oh, and by the way, while making the building stronger, could you remove one of the columns? Adding to the challenge, the redesign and construction had to stay within the original schedule: Move-in dates were fixed.

Engineers added bracing, used stronger steel beams, replaced some sheetrock walls with concrete, and beefed up fireproofing. Firefighting systems got additional high-capacity water tanks and sprinkler lines. The owners strengthened the electrical system with addition of backup generators. (See the Recommended Reading for details – this building is unusually well documented.)

None of this is obvious from street level. Instead, the mirror glass facade is a pleasing surprise: It makes surrounding buildings more visible, by increasing their apparent distance from the viewer. The upper floors’ fins and alternating bands of glass and steel create interesting patterns, especially because the fins vary in size. The fins save it from being Just Another Glass Box.

300 Madison Avenue Vital Statistics
  • Location: 300 Madison Avenue between E 41st and E 42nd Streets
  • Year completed: 2003
  • Architect: Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM)
  • Floors: 35
  • Style: Postmodern
300 Madison Avenue Recommended Reading

Google Map

Johnston Building

Manhattan, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Johnston Building, aka NoMad Hotel, was built in 1903 as a store and office building. It is notable for its limestone facade – an expensive finish for an office building – and for its corner tower and cupola. Last but not least, it is also notable (for 1903) that the owner was a woman: Caroline H. Johnston.

After a lengthy conversion (2008-2012) by Sydell Group, the building is now a Parisian-inspired boutique hotel with interiors designed by Jacques Garcia.

Sydell Group also operates the Ace Hotel – the former Breslin Hotel – located one block to the north.

Johnston Building Vital Statistics
  • Location: 1770 Broadway at W 28th Street
  • Year completed: 1903; 2012 (conversion)
  • Architect: Schickel & Ditmars; Stonehill & Taylor (conversion), Jacques Garcia (interiors)
  • Floors: 12
  • Style: Beaux Arts
  • New York City Landmark: 2001 (Madison Square North Historic District)
Johnston Building Recommended Reading

Google Map