Author: The Office for Metropolitan History
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Building of the Week: 1021 Park Avenue
1955 interior view of an apartment in 1021 Park Avenue, from the collection of MetroHistory The co-op at 1021 Park Avenue, on the northeast corner of 85th Street, was designed by Rosario Candela in 1929. Known for its dramatic neo-Gothic façade, complete with gargoyles, heraldic shields, and a crenellated parapet crowning the penthouse, the building…
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Building of the Week: 640 Park Avenue
1942 photograph of 640 Park Avenue, from the collection of MetroHistory Completed in 1914 and designed by architect James E.R. Carpenter, 640 Park Avenue represents a moment when the apartment house began to rival the private mansion. Its scale and floor plans were meant to provide the grandeur of a country house without the burdens…
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Building of the Week: 940 Park Avenue
1943 photograph of 940 Park Avenue, from the collection of the Office for Metropolitan History On the northwest corner of Park Avenue and 81st Street stands 940 Park Avenue, a building that rewards close looking. Designed in 1925 by the idiosyncratic firm of George & Edward Blum and completed in 1926, it is one of…
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BHS Building of the Week: Beekman Terrace
1950 photograph of Beekman Terrace at 455 East 51st Street, from the collection of the Office for Metropolitan History In 1925, Beekman Terrace, at 455 East 51st Street, was the first luxury apartment house to discover the neglected East River waterfront. Earlier in the 1920s, New Yorkers began fixing up the old brownstones on Beekman…
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Building of the Week: 998 Fifth Avenue
1948 photograph of 998 Fifth Avenue, from the collection of the Office for Metropolitan History 998 Fifth Avenue, designed by McKim, Mead & White in 1909, is one of the most majestic ever built in New York, or even in the United States. The developer was James T. Lee, grandfather of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who…
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Building of the Week: 1000 Park Avenue
1916 rendering of 1000 Park Avenue, with its original glass marquee, since removed, from the collection of the Office for Metropolitan History. In 1916, architect Emery Roth designed the luxury apartment building at 1000 Park Avenue for Fenlo Realty, a subsidiary of Bing & Bing. The Bing brothers were famous for being among the first…
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Building of the Week: The San Remo, 145 Central Park West
The San Remo in 1942, from the collection of the Office for Metropolitan History. The San Remo was designed by famous New York City apartment architect Emery Roth in 1929 and finished in 1930. It benefited from a law passed in the spring of 1929 that permitted high towers on plots greater than 30,000 square…