Every Building on Fifth

2333 Fifth Avenue, Riverbend Houses

Constructed in 1967 to designs by Davis Brody Bond, Riverbend Houses at 2333 Fifth Avenue is the last of the major housing developments to line this section of Fifth Avenue.  Conceived after the theories of the French architect and theorist Le Corbusier, it represents a break with the all-brick construction of the previous decades.  The… Continue reading

2300-2330 Fifth Avenue, Savoy Park

An elegantly proportioned seven-building complex on a thirteen acre site, Savory Park was built in 1959 and is surrounded by beautiful landscaping.  Among the older structures it replaced was the Savoy Ballroom, a center of swing and ballroom music during the Harlem Renaissance.

2266 Fifth Avenue, the Lincolnton Station

The United States Post Office (Lincolnton Station) at 2266 Fifth Avenue is typical of public architecture in New York City in the decades following WWII, which is to say unshowy and sensible but dull.  Some care has been taken with the brickwork.

Greenstreets at West 138th Street

The Greenstreets program provides a pretty triangle of floral plantings at West 138th Street, an unusual traffic island in Manhattan’s grid and one of only two to border Fifth Avenue (the other stretches the block between 24th/23rd Streets and is known as Flatiron Public Square).  The dab of color and shade are a pleasant accent… Continue reading

Fire Box at West 138th Street

The fire box at West 138th Street is typical in design, with a torch surmounting the call box and call buttons for the fire department and police.  The pink paint scheme is unusual and unlikely to be original. There are several hundred scattered throughout the city , many of which are no longer operative.  Another… Continue reading