240 Fifth Avenue

Only the slight curving at the top of the windows suggests the grace and charm of the original architecture of 240 Fifth Avenue: a once-grand mid-19th century brownstone shorn of its details, not even the cornice remains.  The inserted shop-front (seemingly of mid-20th century vintage) is a klutzy mess. Compare with 226 Fifth Avenue to… Continue reading

233 Fifth Avenue, The Museum of Sex

A tatty and nearly unrecognizable survivor from the brownstone era, 233 Fifth Avenue now houses New York’s Museum of Sex.  The museum had planned to demolish the building and replace it with a new electronically-lit façade that would “blush” different shades of pink.  The extension of the final boundaries of the Madison Square North Historic District… Continue reading

224 Fifth Avenue

In contrast to its neighbor at 222 Fifth, 224 Fifth Avenue is a crass Po-Mo disaster, resembling the tiled interior of an airport lounge men’s room turned inside out.    

146 Fifth Avenue

Another altered townhouse, 146 Fifth Avenue’s style is given in the Landmark Preservation Commission’s Designation Report as “none.” Pink-beige brick and Chicago frame windows are bisected by one of Fifth Avenue’s few street-facade fire escapes. The upper portion of the building is finished, inexplicably, with white brick. Along with 14 Fifth Avenue, 146 Fifth Avenue is… Continue reading

75 Fifth Avenue

By all rights, 75 Fifth Avenue should be one of the best buildings on the Avenue – a full street wall of façade-width balconies.  Yet crude materials, indifferent proportions and bare bones-detailing conspire to make this 1983 apartment house a flimsy-looking, dreary and crass interruption of the district. It is interesting to speculate on what… Continue reading