673 Fifth Avenue & 675 Fifth Avenue

A Beaux Arts Commercial building reworked extensively in the 1980s, 673 Fifth Avenue is perhaps most notable for its eye-catching interior staircase…and given the current spate of renovation, it is impossible to say for how much longer. Next door to the north, 675 Fifth Avenue’s limestone façade was designed by Henry Allan Jacobs in 1920… Continue reading

665 Fifth Avenue, The Rolex Building

Originally built in 1924 for the Scandinavian department store Jansen, 665 Fifth Avenue acquired its current appearance in the 1970s when the building was purchased by Rolex.  The attempt at Miesian elegance suffers in comparison with Olympic Tower just a block south.

579 Fifth Avenue

A Kohn Pederson Fox recladding of an Emery Roth original, 579 Fifth Avenue is a glammed-up version of the classic white-brick commercial block that the latter firm turned out by the dozen in the post-war period.  The insertion of corner windows and renovated terraces make this a pleasant work space, although the new façade looks… Continue reading

529 Fifth Avenue

Like 522 Fifth Avenue directly across the street, 529 Fifth Avenue consists of the mid-century recladding of a much older building, this time a 1906 bank by noted architect Henry Ives Cobb.  The result is inoffensive but not particularly memorable.