251 & 253 Fifth Avenue
The battle-worn relic at 251 Fifth Avenue, now linked to the even more vandalized 253 Fifth Avenue, is a rare surviving work by the architect George B. Post, one of New York’s earliest great architects. Built in 1872 as an early example of “French Flats,” the progenitor to the New York luxury apartment house, the building has suffered the loss of the lower two stories of its Fifth Avenue façade, been robbed of its pyramidal tower and, in a final blow to its dignity, painted an inexplicable shade of pink that brings it into unlooked-for alliance with the only slightly-less-ravaged 246 Fifth Avenue located diagonally across the street to the south.
What remains of 251 Fifth Avenue could be the basis for a major restoration of an almost unique building type; as more and more of the area’s landmarked stock goes under renovation, perhaps a canny developer will see the structure’s potential.
As for 253 Fifth Avenue, if this refaced brownstone was ever worth looking at, it isn’t now.
Hi – You can see 251 Fifth in all its former glory — tower and all — in the middle of this photo: http://www.shorpy.com/node/7653 Astonishing what’s been done to it over time.