Every Building on Fifth

Possibly the most sumptuous commercial building of its size and type remaining in New York, the incredible Kaskel Building at 316 Fifth Avenue is also one of the most flagrantly wrecked. Created for the stylish men’s fashion firm of Kaskel & Kaskel by the architect Charles I. Berg, this astonishing 1902 pile suggests the robust… Continue reading

The Rock Building at 315 Fifth Avenue is a handsome 1906 design by Maynicke & Franke.  Featuring numerous Baroque details, it is similar in scale and effect to many of the firm’s buildings further south on The Ladies Mile.  The renowned bookstore Brentano’s was the original ground floor tenant. The façade has been recently cleaned and… Continue reading

This vigorous Beaux Arts design at 314 Fifth Avenue was the former home of the famed Polk’s Hobby Shop, the noted model train emporium.  The shop was featured in a scene in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather.

A once-proud brownstone mansion, 313 Fifth Avenue was constructed for the Murdock Family in 1853 and was considered an outlier in terms of location, at the very northernost bounderies of respectable addresses.  The building’s later tenants included the art gallery Fishel, Adler & Schwartz, whose exhibition roster included Claude Monet. A well-intentioned paint job and… Continue reading

A ornate Gothic façade, 312 Fifth Avenue is an excellent example of the commercial architecture of the early 20th Century.