111 Fifth Avenue

Built in 1895

Photographed in 2010

The Constable Building at 109-111 Fifth Avenue at the corner of East 18th Street in the Flatiron District neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City was built in 1894-95 and was designed by William Schickel in the Neo-Renaissance style. It was originally planned to be a manufacturing an workshop building, but the use was changed to an office building before construction began. The site, which was purchased in 1893, was originally the Belmost Mansion, an the new builing was erected by the estate of Henrietta Constable, daughter of Aaron Arnold an the wife of James M. Constable. Arnold and Constable were partners in the Arnold Constable & Company Dry Goods Emporium on East 19th Street between Fifth and Broadway, to which this building was connected internally. The Constable Builing is located within the Ladies' Mile Historic District. (Source: "NYCLPC Ladies' Mile Historic District Designation Report, volume 1") 

"30 Rock", the Rockefeller Center, NYC

30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112
Built in 1933, Photographed in 2010

Popularly known as “30 Rock”,  the GE Building is a slim gothic skyscraper and the centerpiece of the
Rockefeller Center complex. At 850ft (259m) with 70 floors, it is the tallest, grandest and most dazzling
of the Rockefeller Center buildings. The landmark emanates a futuristic, larger-than-life grace, despite its
bulky limestone base, which garnered another nickname: “The Slab.” The 70-story Art Deco building
was originally constructed for the Radio Corporation of America in 1933 (formally known as RCA
building), and was exceptionally modern for its time, with a contemporary open lobby and even
escalators connecting the ground floor to lower level shops.

The top floor of the building is an event room and restaurant named the Rainbow Room, above that is
the Top of the Rock observation deck. The building is the setting for the famous "Lunchtime atop a
Skyscraper" photograph, taken by Charles C. Ebbets in 1932 of workers having lunch, sitting on a steel
beam, without safety harnesses. The 840-foot (260 m) drop lies below.

One of the little known but fascinating parts of Rockefeller Center is the underground concourse, known
as a 'city in the city'. It is an exceptional example of civic planning. All buildings share a common design
style, Art Deco, and are connected to each other via an underground concourse, the Catacombs. This
interconnected series of pedestrian passages stretches from 47th Street to 51st Street, and from 5th
Avenue to 7th Avenue. The concourse, New York's largest underground city, contains retail shops, fast
food, fine dining, post office, and subway entrances.

One of the first escalators provided access to this concourse from the lobby. The open lobby was the first of its time and rich materials, reduced black and beige ornamental scheme is enhanced by dramatic
lighting. Granite covers the building base to a height of 4ft (1.2m), and the shaft has a refined facade of
Indiana limestone with aluminum spandrel panels.

In 1985 the GE Building was given official landmark status.

To view more photographs, visit my flickr slideshow, or thumbnails.

Radio City Music Hall, NYC

1260 Sixth Avenue (aka Avenue of the Americas), NY, NY
Built in 1932, Photographed in 2010

Radio City Music hall is the corner stone of the Rockefeller Center office complex buildings on 50th
street and 6th avenue. This really is the showcased jewels of the center, and the classic example of Art
deco style. It is the largest theatre in town. The interior was declared a city landmark in 1978.

Radio City Music Hall, Interior, NYC

1260 Sixth Avenue (aka Avenue of the Americas), NY, NY
Built in 1932, Photographed in 2010

Radio City Music hall is the corner stone of the Rockefeller Center office complex buildings on 50th
street and 6th avenue. This really is the showcased jewels of the center, and the classic example of Art
deco style. It is the largest theatre in town.

The interior was declared a city landmark in 1978. It was was designed by Donald Deskey, who won
the competition. He designed over 30 spaces inside the theatre including 8 lounges, smoking rooms, and
etc. Each room has its own theme, and he worked with all manners of different artists. A lot of them, by
the way, were recommended by John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s wife, Abby, who just had opened the
Museum of Modern Art. Some of the artists designed some of the pieces that ended up in the Radio City.
One of them, who didn't, but who had signed a contract, was Georgia O'Kieff. She was all ready to go,
and was going to design a mural in a lady's room. However, at that time, she was becoming a very well
known artist, and her husband, who was a little bit of controller, thought she wasn't getting enough
money, and demanded 3 times as much money. Eventually by the time they had it all sorted out, because
she really wanted to do it, she had no time to finish it. She went in, started it, and left with having a
nervous breakdown and quit.

Donald Deskey, in his later career, took a chance and started a graphic design firm and designed some of
the most recognizable icons of the American domestic products, such as the Crest toothpaste, the Tide
bullseye, Jif peanut butter, and Pampers disposable diapers.

Reference
-The Bowery Boys: New York City History

To view more photos of the interior of the building, visit my flickr slideshow, or thumbnails.

The Bowery Savings Bank, Subway Entrance, NYC

110-120 East 42nd Street, NYC
Built in 1923, Photographed in 2004

It’s difficult to grasp how many different kinds of stone and marble and other fine materials those who
planned and built the Bowery Savings Bank brought together. Both the exterior and the interior of the
bank building, at 110-120 East 42nd Street in Manhattan, are designated as New York City landmarks.

The building doesn’t call as much attention to itself as other beautiful, eye-catching landmarks in the city.
Still, it looks like a piece of an Old Europe city tucked across from Grand Central Station, with its grand
rounded arches, detailed stone carving, and a rock-solidness that feels centuries old though it was
constructed in the early 20th century.

Further reading:
-Bowery Savings: The World in a Building

Show Window at Bloomingdale's, NYC

Built in 1931, Photographed in 2004

Bloomingdale's, a chain of upscale American department stores owned by Macy's, Inc., has 36 stores
nationwide, with annual sales of $1.9 billion dollars. Bloomingdale's started in 1861 when brothers
Joseph and Lyman Bloomingdale started selling hoop-skirts in their Ladies Notions' Shop on
Manhattan's Lower East Side. In 1872, Bloomingdale's expanded and opened their East Side Bazaar, a
harbinger of the modern "department store."

In 1886, it moved to 59th Street and Lexington Avenue, still their flagship store, anticipating and
capitalizing on the northern movement of New York's upper and middle classes. By 1929,
Bloomingdale's covered an entire city block. Two years later, the glamorous Art Deco edifice that still
graces Lexington Avenue was completed.

Tavern on Green, NYC

Built in 1934
Photographed in Dec. 2008

Tavern on the Green was originally created as an 'affordable' dining alternative for the middle class,
located in Central Park on the Upper West Side of New York City, in the United States. With 2007
gross revenues of $38 million, from more than 500,000 visitors, it was the second highest-grossing
independently-owned restaurant in the United States (behind The Venetian's Tao restaurant in Las
Vegas, at $67 million).  Of the several dining rooms, the most famous was the Crystal Room (picture on
the top), which features windows overlooking the restaurant's adjacent garden in Central Park.

Tavern on the Green had its last seating on December 31, 2009. It is auctioning off its interior
decorations and closing its doors because of bankruptcy.

Bloomberg Tower, NYC

731 Lexington Avenue/151 East 58th Street, NY, NY 10022
Architecture by César Pelli & Associates
Built in 2005, Photographed in 2005

One Beacon Court (also called the Bloomberg Tower), is a skyscraper on the East Side of Midtown
Manhattan, New York City. It houses the headquarters of Bloomberg L.P. in the lower floors and luxury condominiums in the higher floors. It was built on the site of the flagship Alexander's Department Store which was torn down in 2000. The mid-block public space at the base of the building is called Beacon Court. The building stands at 54 stories tall, reaching 806 feet (246 meters). Construction started in 2001 and was completed in 2005.It is currently the 14th tallest building in New York and the 42nd tallest in the United States. Several buildings were demolished to make way for the Bloomberg Tower (the tallest being the Barclay-Garrett Building).

One Court Square, NYC

1 Court Square, Long Island City, NY
Built in 1990, Photographed in 2004


One Court Square, also known as the Citigroup Building, is a 50-story (209.1 meters or 686 feet) office
tower in Long Island City, Queens just outside of Manhattan. It was completed in 1990 by Skidmore,
Owings & Merrill LLP for Citigroup. The tower is tallest in New York City outside Manhattan,
also known as Pulse87.7 broadcasts from the top of this building.
It is not to be mistaken for the Citigroup Center in Manhattan, which is across the street from Citigroup's
main headquarters at 399 Park Avenue. The buildings are one subway stop away from each other along
the E train.

Maritime Hotel, NYC

363 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011
Built in 1966, Photographed in 2005

Guest rooms built for members of a sailors' union - each with windows shaped like portholes - and later
used by runaway teenagers and then by visitors from China are now occupied by hip visitors to New
York in what is now the Maritime Hotel.

The hotel is the latest incarnation of the white-tile 12-story structure that occupies the blockfront on the
east side of Ninth Avenue between 16th and 17th Streets.

For further reading:
Maritime Hotel in wired new york

McDonald's on 42nd Street, NYC

220 W 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036
Photographed in 2004

Time Warner Center

Columbus Circle, NYC
Built in 2003, photographed in 2005

Exxon Building, NYC

1251 Avenue of America, NY, NY
Built in 1971, photographed in 2005

The Exxon Building, more widely known by its address, 1251 Avenue of the Americas, was part of the
later Rockefeller Center expansion (1960s-1970s) dubbed the "XYZ Buildings" on Sixth Avenue, (also
known as Avenue of the Americas). Their plans were first drawn in 1963 by The Rockefeller family's
architect, Wallace Harrison of the architectural firm, Harrison and Abramovitz.

Nathan's Famous, NYC

1310 Surf Avenue, Brooklyn, NY.
Built in 1916, photographed in 2003.

Nathan’s Famous was founded by a Polish immigrant, Nathan Handwerker, and his is truly an authentic
“only in America story.” He started his business in 1916 with a small hot dog stand in Coney Island, New
York. He sold hot dogs that were manufactured based on a recipe developed by his wife, Ida. 


Today, Nathan's reaches millions of customers through traditional and captive market restaurant
operations, a branded product program introduced throughout the food service industry and packaged
products sold in supermarkets.


For further reading:
Nathan's famous Homepage

Plaza Hotel, NYC

Central Park South & Fifth Ave
New York, NY 10019

Built in 1907

Photographed in 2004

Howard Johnson's in Times Square, NYC

1551 Broadway, W 46th Street, NYC.
Photograph is from 2004.

The Howard Johnson's was built in 1955 and was the oldest, continually operated business facing
directly on Times Square, until their closing in 2005. The property is currently replaced by American
Eagle Outfitters.

Read more:
1551 Broadway -- the transformation from HoJo’s to American Eagle
Howard Johnson's, Landmark of Old Times Square, to Shut Down