St. John's Episcopal Church, 9818 Fort Hamilton Parkway in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, was dedicated in 1834 and was located near the United States Army installation at Fort Hamilton.…
The Condé Nast Building (4 Times Square) was called the "citadel of chic" by the New York (NY) Times on February 26, 1998. The building houses such "chic" Condé Nast…
The "condominium" form of Ownership ("condo" for short) originated in ancient Rome, not New York City. However, NYC real estate has certainly popularized this form of ownership.…
A "condop" has some of the features of a condo (condominium) and a co-op (cooperative). The term is somewhat new. http://www.hudsonviewrealty.com/info/coopscondos.htmCondops Technically,…
The Coney Island Boardwalk opened in 1923 and is officially called the Riegelmann Boardwalk, after Brooklyn Borough President Edward Riegelmann (1870-1941). Both the NYC Department of Parks &…
"Contextual zoning" has been a buzzword in the city planning community for about two decades. It regulates new building to fit the existing buildings in the area.…
The Montauk Club (a private club at 25 Eighth Avenue on the corner of Lincoln Place) was founded in 1889 and is considered Brooklyn's "crown jewel of Park Slope." The Venetian Gothic…
The New York Botanical Garden (established in 1891) has been described as the "crown jewel of the Bronx." The NYBG's Enid Haupt Conservatory is sometimes called the "crown jewel…
40 Wall Street (The Trump Building) is a 72-floor building that was the tallest building in the world when it opened in 1930; it is the tallest mid-block building in New York City. The building had…
The "Dakota" apartment house, at West 72nd Street and Central Park West, is probably most famous today as the last residence of Beatle John Lennon. The building was finished in 1884. It…
The Family Court Building in lower Manhattan has been called the Darth Vader Building by some. It's a gloomy building. http://www.downtownexpress.com/DE_11/talkingpoint.htmlMore darkness comes…
"Destructoporn" (or "destructo-porn") is the filming or photographing of the destruction of a building. The building might have had some historic community or personal value, or…
Webster Hall, at 125 East 11th Street in Manhattan, was built in 1886 and has held some notorious events. "WEBSTER HALL -- The Devil's Playhouse" was advertised in the January 1918…
Manhattan's Astor Place is named after John Jacob Astor (July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848), then New York City's wealthiest resident. THe Astor Place Opera House was opened on November…
The Normandie Court (sometimes misspelled as "Normandy") is an apartment complex at 225 East 95th Street in Manhattan. The Normandie was built in the mid-1980s and almost immediately…
"Edifice Complex" (a pun on "Oedipus Complex") has long been associated with New York City and State. Governor Nelson Rockefeller's complex of state office buildings in…
The building at 450 West 33rd Street in Manhattan was completed in 1970. It was renovated and painted beige in the 1980s. The massive 16-story structure was nicknamed "elephant's…
The Empire State Building opened in 1931, during the Great Depression. It had a problem finding tenants and was soon derided as the "Empty State Building." This nickname is not used…
The "Finger Building" is the large condo building at North 7th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Why "Finger Building"? Because the building looks like a finger? Because the…
The "Fish Building" the the Art Deco building with the aquarium mosaic at 1150 Grand Concourse in the Bronx. http://www.brorson.com/BronxWeb/GrandConcourse3.htmlOne of the most…