385 Fifth Avenue
385 Fifth Avenue, also known as The Accessory Center (undoubtedly to differentiate it from The Accessories Exchange a block south at 366 Fifth Avenue) was completed in 1929 by Farrar & Watmough. The firm’s best-known work may be the massive London Terrace complex on 23rd Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues, the largest such apartment… Continue reading
384 Fifth Avenue
Built in 1908 and given a new façade sometime in the 1950s, 384 Fifth Avenue lacks the double-breasted nattiness of similar recladding projects such as 310 Fifth Avenue to the south.
381-383 Fifth Avenue
Above its mutilated first and second floors, 381-383 Fifth Avenue brings a burst of Parisian lavishness to its block. Comparison of the upper with the lower stories provides an all-too-common example of a trend in showroom design subtracting architecture from the streetscape. Would that it also provided an object lesson.
375, 377 & 379 Fifth Avenue
Capped by a pair of oddly funereal urns, the slightly eccentric building at 377 Fifth Avenue (shown at center above) looks as if it might have been designed by Edward Gorey. It is in fact by the firm of Severance and Van Alen and was designed in 1921 as part of the Childs Restaurant chain,… Continue reading
373 Fifth Avenue
Designed by Hunt & Hunt, successor firm to the great Richard Morris Hunt, 373 Fifth Avenue was constructed for the Alvin Manufacturing Company, a prominent silversmith. The ornate façade was decidedly less so in comparison with the building’s original neighbors. The ground floor has been regrettably altered, but 373 Fifth Avenue remains otherwise intact as… Continue reading