How Tammany Hall Became a Petco Under a Turtle Shell
The old Tammany Hall building at Union Square preserves the facade of New York's most famous political machine, then crowns it with a glass dome inspired by Lenape imagery.
Architecture
New York architecture explained through the engineering, design, history, and hidden systems of the city's most significant buildings.
The Skyscraper That Used a Plaza to Save Lower Manhattan
One Chase Manhattan Plaza used an old zoning rule to rise as a clean slab, then turned its leftover ground into one of Lower Manhattan's great modern plazas.
Why This Windowless Tower Looms Over the Brooklyn Bridge
375 Pearl Street was built as a telephone switching fortress. Its blank walls made it notorious, then made it valuable again as a data center.
Why 2 World Trade Center Took So Long To Finish
2 World Trade Center became the last missing tower because its design kept changing with Lower Manhattan's economy, from banking floors to media offices to American Express.
How One Vanderbilt Bought Height by Fixing Grand Central
One Vanderbilt became a 1,401-foot office tower because New York tied private height to public transit improvements at Grand Central.
The Empire State Building's Airship Dock That Never Worked
The Empire State Building's spire was promoted as a mooring mast for transatlantic airships. The idea was glamorous, dangerous, and almost immediately obsolete.
The Trouble Inside 432 Park Avenue
432 Park Avenue was sold as a new icon of luxury height. Residents later alleged that life inside the supertall came with leaks, noise, elevator problems, and cracked concrete.
The Torch at 740 Eighth Avenue: A Supertall Built Around Holdouts
The Torch at 740 Eighth Avenue shows how Broadway theater air rights, holdout buildings, and a planned drop ride can reshape one Times Square block.
The Park Avenue Loophole That Predicted Billionaires' Row
Ritz Tower used hotel law, shared kitchens, and luxury service to make vertical apartment living acceptable to New York's richest residents.
Inside the Pencil-Thin Tower Above Steinway Hall
111 West 57th Street rises from a landmarked piano showroom into one of the thinnest supertall residential towers ever built.
Why the Church at Ground Zero Glows at Night
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was rebuilt at the World Trade Center with Pentelic marble, the same luminous stone associated with the Parthenon.
Why Tall Buildings Are Called Skyscrapers
Before skyscraper meant a tall building, it belonged to sailing ships, where the word described a tiny sail set near the top of the mast.