I’m not a neo-Luddite – I do love much of what technology has brought us. Cell phones, the Internet, PCs, DVDs, VCRs, and ATMs are all things which have made our lives easier. But I do love natural things. One of the things I hate is the inability to open windows in high-rises or hotel construction. On a beautiful spring day, I want to throw the windows open, hear the birds, and smell the air, not watch it through a picture window like a television program.

That said, today I bring you two glass towers (two-for-one to carry you through the weekend). The building in the foreground is the 52-story 100 United Nations Plaza, a luxury condominium tower on the northwest corner of 48th Street and First Avenue, completed in 1986 (click here for 2nd photo). You can’t miss this one, with its signature wedge-shaped roof in eight steps, featuring penthouses with multiple balconies. The building is surrounded by a landscaped plaza with gardens and fountains. It was designed by Der Scutt, an architect with quite a pedigree who has done numerous NYC projects, including Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, the Grand Hyatt Hotel, and the Corinthian luxury condominium.

This building was the tallest in the area until it was eclipsed by the 72-story Trump World Tower (seen to its right in the photo) across First Avenue between 47 and 48th Streets. Surprisingly, I have read a number of positive reviews from architecture critics such as Herbert Muschamp. Designed by Polish architect Marta Rudzka and completed in 2001, it was built amid some controversy (of course) concerning its height and impact on views and neighboring buildings, particularly the United Nations. It is the tallest residential tower in the US and was worldwide until the completion of the 21st Century Tower in Dubai (2003) and the Tower Palace Three in Seoul (2004).

It’s amazing what lawyers and money can do. If the law provides needed loopholes and maneuverable angles, lawyers will find them, and unless laws are changed, projects go though which may puzzle many and not be to the liking of residents. One of the most fascinating concepts is the Transfer of Development Rights (or TDR), a scheme introduced to the city in the 1980s for transferring the unused “air rights” of one building (or more) to another proposed structure, thus allowing for a much taller structure to be erected than the building’s plot alone would allow. Its intention was to save older historic buildings; rather than have to sell a property to capitalize on the value of its land, TDR allows the building to remain with the owner still profiting by selling air rights for the development of a taller structure on a neighboring plot. So Donald Trump gets to dot his i and cross his T again…

The Woolworth Building, at 233 Broadway, is a personal favorite of mine – my business was located down the block on Park Place for 10 years, so I saw this building daily. The Gothic structure, with spires, arches, flying buttresses, and gargoyles, was designed by Cass Gilbert and built in 1913 for $13 million in cash by Frank Woolworth as his corporate headquarters (until their bankruptcy in 1997) for his chain of five and dime stores. At 792 feet, it was the tallest building in the world and remained so until 1930.

One of the stellar attractions is the spectacular lobby. I have visited numerous times. However, as I have written several times before, here we have another case of heavily restricted access to a landmark building subsequent to 9/11. Prior to that event, guards were accustomed to visitors and welcomed them. At night, when it was quiet and the guards were not busy, showing interest in the lobby resulted in what amounted to a free personal tour, with a history of the construction of the building and explanation of the architectural and sculptural elements. They were always eager to point out the all the features of the magnificent vaulted lobby with blue and gold glass mosaics, murals, marble, and the sculptured caricatures, including Woolworth counting his nickels and dimes, Cass Gilbert holding a model of the building, and the structural engineer Gunvald Aus. Its exterior is also outstanding with limestone, granite, terra-cotta, and its signature pyramidal copper spire, now with a green patina.

When first built, it was referred to as a Cathedral of Commerce, an appropriate description for this National Historic Landmark. Today, it is impossible to access the interior unless you have specific business in the building. So for now, I only have photos of the exterior to share with you…

Even the plain becomes interesting when it is extremely plain, and nothing beats the AT&T Long Lines Building at 33 Thomas Street for a bleak, monolithic structure. 550 feet with no windows. I have been fascinated by this building for over 20 years but never made a serious effort to learn anything about it until writing this article, when I decided to get to the bottom of it all. What’s going on in there? Plenty, just no people.

The structure was designed by John Carl Warnecke and completed in 1974 as a telephone switching hub for AT&T, now used primarily by AT&T and Verizon. The floors are 18 feet tall – nearly double the height of a standard commercial building – so technically the building is only 29 stories. The exterior walls are made from concrete panels clad with pink-colored Swedish granite. The vertical protrusions are shafts which house the elevators, stairs, and ductwork. There are large, rectangular ventilation holes at the 10th and 29th floors. It is considered one of the most secure buildings in the US and was designed to resist a nuclear blast and be self-sufficient for up to two weeks.

My understanding is that the building is essentially humanless, barring the occasional technician. On September 17, 1991, human error and power equipment failure resulted in the disabling of the central office switch. Over 5 million calls were blocked, and FAA phone lines were also interrupted, disrupting air traffic control to 398 airports serving most of the northeastern US. In researching for this posting, I saw the architectural style of this building categorized as both International Style II and Brutalism (French béton brut, or “raw concrete”).

Don’t try to get any consensus as to its appearance – even critics are divided. Architecture critics for the NY Times, Paul Goldberger and Herbert Muschamp, both seem to like it. Goldberger says, “This is the only one of the several windowless equipment buildings the phone company has built that makes any sense architecturally – it is sheathed in a warm and handsome granite, and though it looks more like a mammoth piece of equipment than a conventional building, it, in fact, blends into its surroundings more gracefully than does any other skyscraper in this area.” Muschamp says, “The pink granite tower is forbidding, and it obstructs the river view I would enjoy if the building were demolished. But who cares? Obstructed views are part of what makes New York democratic. And Warnecke’s building starkly frames my view of midtown as if it were a sheer Grand Canyon wall: a neat special effect.” On the other hand, in one survey of architects and critics for the Ugliest Buildings in New York City, the building received the distinction of coming in 6th place…

This was looking like an average story of a nice-looking church. Until I read that this church was named after the Basilica of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of Pompeii in Italy, which was founded by a former Satanist – Bartolo Longo (1841-1926). Read his story here. He was later beatified on October 26, 1980 by Pope John Paul II, who referred to him as the “Apostle of the Rosary.”

The church in the photo (built in 1928), Our Lady of Pompeii, is located on the corner of Carmine and Bleecker Streets in the Village. It has very high visibility from nearby 6th Avenue and is a landmark in the area. I have shown it as viewed from behind (to the west) along Bleecker Street. Its construction was organized by Father Antonio Demo (born 1870 in Lazzaretto di Bassano, Italy, died in 1936 in New York City) to replace a former church where he was pastor.

In an interesting side note, the former church is where St. Frances Xavier Cambrini worshipped and taught – she was the first American citizen to be canonised. The church was built in 1928 in Italian-Renaissance style with an interior graced by marble columns, frescoes, and murals. This area of the South Village still shows signs and remnants of its Italian heritage – the shops along Bleecker Street between 6th and 7th Avenues are a good example. Between 1880 and 1920, more than 50,000 Italian immigrants settled here. Father Demo’s legacy continued with the naming of the triangular plot across the street from the church: Father Demo Square…

The American International Building is located in the financial district at 70 Pine Street. At a quick glance, one might mistake it for something like the Empire State Building. This beautiful structure with its Gothic spire abounds with art deco details, yet is relatively unknown – surprising, isn’t it?

One of the reasons is that it is difficult to really see from the canyons of the densely packed buildings in this area of Manhattan. The building is best appreciated from afar, as in this photo, which I took from the South Street Seaport area. It is famous for its motif of a snow-capped mountain – the base of the building is clad in granite while the upper portion, clad in limestone, becomes lighter in color until one reaches the very top, where it is white. There are limestone replicas of the building carved on the central columns at the entrances. The area is also not generally frequented by visitors or residents except for Ground Zero, South Street, and the ferries to Staten Island, the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island – destinations which are typically visited and left without exploring the neighborhood. Admittedly, it’s essentially a business district (dead on weekends) and will primarily appeal to architecture fans. The building itself was built for the Cities Service Company in 1930-32, the same time period of the construction of the Chrysler and Empire State buildings. At 952 feet, it was the tallest building downtown until the construction of the World Trade Center towers in the early 1970s. Since 9/11, it is again the tallest building downtown, the fifth tallest in NYC, and 14th in the US.

The building has been used in many films, such as Spider-Man, The Gangs of New York, and Independence Day. The building is now owned by an insurance company – the American International Group. At one time, it was known as the 60 Wall Tower; there was a bridge at the 15th floor connecting it to a building at 60 Wall St (demolished when City Services vacated) – you can see lighter bricks where this bridge once was. There is an observatory at the top, unfortunately now closed to the general public but open to executives at lunch. Now that’s a nice perk…

Many find the subject of architecture “boring”, but as much as anything else, a great city is defined by its buildings. Say the word Paris or London, and images of the Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Louvre, and the Tower of London come to mind. Architecture is the crystallization in a point in time of many things – the fashion, folly, trends, inspiration, and perspiration of the men and women who shaped it. To walk this city and appreciate its architecture is to live its history. So, I bring you the Beresford (named for the hotel it replaced), one of the world’s most prestigious residences, as seen from Central Park.

This massive three-towered edifice occupies the corner of 81st Street and Central Park West and sports three lobbies (and addresses – 211 Central Park West and 1 and 7 West 81st Street). It overlooks the Museum of Natural History, the Hayden Planetarium, and Central Park. The building is a masterpiece of Emory Roth, the architect with the greatest number of buildings in NYC to his credit (click here for my posting on 17 State Street with links to Roth). It is also one of the three most prestigious apartments on Manhattan’s Upper West Side (all on Central Park West), along with the San Remo (also by Roth) and the Dakota. The building was completed a month prior to the stock market crash in 1929, so its early history as a luxury residence started off on rocky footing.

Built in a late Italian Renaissance style, it has a rusticated limestone base, brick-clad upper floors, and terra cotta trim. There are 175 apartments on 22 Floors and a courtyard with a fountain and a garden. In design, the Beresford is executed in brick with limestone and terra cotta trim. The three towers have pyramid roofs capped with copper lanterns that are brightly lit at night. Click here for more about the building. Of course, the roster of residents reads like a who’s who list, with present and past superstars, celebrities, and moguls: Jerry Seinfeld, John McEnroe, Isaac Stern, Tony Randall, Helen Gurley Brown, Beverly Sills…