316 Fifth Avenue, The Kaskel Building

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

261 Fifth Avenue

A masterwork of Ely Jacques Kahn, here working with the firm of Buchman and Kahn in his fully developed Art Deco style, 261 Fifth Avenue brings a burst of terra cotta polychrome to the district and provides a fascinating contrast with his nearly abstract cubic design at 202 Fifth to the south. The red, blue… Continue reading

175 – 183 Fifth Avenue, The Flatiron Building

A whole book could be written about the Flatiron Building – and one has. For the purposes of this blog it is enough to say that this masterwork of the famed Chicago architect Daniel H. Burnham was originally known as the Fuller Building after the construction company that commissioned it and took on its present… Continue reading