Though it is best known as the first headquarters of FAO Schwarz, or as “the Jewelry Building,” in the beginning, cars and trains-not of the toy variety-figured more heavily than retail did in the story of 303 Fifth Avenue.
The 20-story office tower, designed by Buchman and Fox Architects, rose in 1909, when America’s railroad Read More
On Oct. 7, the City Council passed the first of two laws that would allow business improvement districts to take joint custody of properties that fall within the boundaries of more than one BID.
Together, the bills will end what has essentially been a three-year, amicable custody battle between the Times Square Alliance and the Read More
He is known as one of the most prolific Beaux-Arts architects of the Jazz Age by critics, as well as the designer of the Chrysler Building. Some may even remember him as a “Doctor of Altitude,” a title he was awarded by The Architect magazine in 1929, before the Great Depression pushed Art Deco skyscrapers Read More
The New York Times reported that on April 30, 1930, “the roar of the riveting machines” fastening together the steel skeleton of the 1,250-foot Empire State Building were silenced so former New York governor and president of Empire State Inc. Al Smith could address retailers gathered at the James McCreery and Co. Department Store.
“Manhattan Read More
Just as workers were milling about 100 Church Street’s famously gaudy lobby at lunch hour on Aug. 26, an official from the Department of Buildings began plastering two violation notices in the windows of Bank of America on the ground floor. The citation faulted “signage,” in this case a racy advertisement for a teenage television Read More
