In Plain Sight
-
A Strange Building In Midtown
Last week, I was trudging through a very slushy midtown when I happened to turn onto 47th Street… …and walk past what has to be one of the strangest buildings in Manhattan: A six-story office building, the facade of 15 East 47th Street is completely obscured by a wall of brass-colored rings: Here’s a close-up.…
-
The Last Five Stand-Alone Diners in Manhattan
Last week, I was walking around the Financial District when I found myself staring at the little diner on Pearl Street in amazement. How in the hell had this thing managed to survive into present day New York when you consider the towering skyscrapers surrounding it? New York has its share of diners, but it’s…
-
The Prettiest Building In Times Square Has Been Saved
Last year in September, I wrote an open letter to the new owners of the property at 1552 Broadway in Times Square asking a simple request: that they save a Times Square treasure. Nearly 100 years before it became a decrepit, out-of-business TGIF, 1552 Broadway was the showroom for I. Miller shoes, famous for supplying…
-
What’s Wrong With These Bronx Townhouses?
One of the worst kept secrets in New York is the phony townhouse at 58 Joralemon Street. Once an actual residence, it now hides a subway ventilator and emergency exit for the subway tunnel running directly below (the blacked-out windows should be your first clue that something odd is going on here). Anyway, last weekend,…