Category Archives: Historic Victorian

Historic Victorian

OUR MEN IN HAVANA

EVEN in Cuba they know it’s a waiting game, waiting for the Castros to exit the stage, and for Cuba to open up. When Americans finally do arrive in quantity, New Yorkers will notice something familiar about Havana, for a string of New York architects found it fertile ground a century ago. Continue reading

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Posted in Elsewhere, Heritage, Restoration, Landmarks, Historic Victorian, Hotel, McKim Mead & White, Neo-classicism, Offbeat | Leave a comment

15 Union Square West- interesting makeover with layers peeled off.

Fascinating layered history and facade reuse and reinterpretation at Union Square. Continue reading

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Posted in Construction, Heritage, Restoration, Landmarks, Historic Victorian, Modern Minimalist, Residential | Leave a comment

Stanford White’s Backdrop for the Panic of 1907

THE continuing banking debacle presents some parallels with the sad case of Charles Tracy Barney, who in the Panic of 1907 lost control of the Knickerbocker Trust Company, which shut down to his disgrace. And just as Mr. Barney’s tragedy was playing out, the seeds were sown for the mutilation of his superb 1903 bank at Fifth Avenue and 34th Street, designed by Stanford White.
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Posted in Historic Victorian, McKim Mead & White, MIDTOWN | 1 Comment

50 WEST STREET IF IT’S NOT ONE THING, IT’S ANOTHER

Developer Time Equities broke ground in June 2008 on a 66-story hotel/condo tower at 50 West Street. It was a grand affair, with the company’s CEO Francis Greenberger and city officials joined by a vicar, a reverend and a rabbi … Continue reading

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Posted in 50 West Street, Delayed, Demolished, Herzog & de Meuron, Historic Victorian, Lower Manhattan, Modern Minimalist, Murphy/Jahn Architects, Skyscraper | Leave a comment

Shoring Up a Landmark Ruin on Roosevelt Island

When we last left the haunting Gothic ruin of the old Smallpox Hospital on Roosevelt Island, it was more ruined than ever. Continue reading

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Posted in Historic Victorian, Infrastructure, Roosevelt Island | Leave a comment