724 Fifth Avenue

A 1923 office building designed by Severance & Van Alen, 724 Fifth Avenue has a handsome double-dormered rooftop. The ground level floors have been sadly compromised.  Along with The Crown Building, its neighbor to the north, 724 Fifth Avenue has long been popular with art galleries.

Severance & Van Alen were an architectural partnership consisting of Craig H. Severance and William Van Alen.  The partnership ended acrimoniously and the two men later found themselves head-to-head in the race to design what would be the then tallest building in the world.  Severence’s 40 Wall Street wound up with more actual office space but Van Alen’s Chrysler Building – with its spire completed in secret and installed only after 40 Wall Street was permanently topped out – took the ribbon.

Both were overshadowed by the Empire State Building a mere year later.

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