Reply With QuoteFunny. I look up all the time. I don't care what people think.
This building has a massive base and a lot of dramatic setbacks, so it's tough to perceive the crown from street level.
It's nice though.
That's cause N Yorkers are never supposed to gawk upward like a toorist, right??Originally Posted by londonlawyer
Funny. I look up all the time. I don't care what people think.
This building has a massive base and a lot of dramatic setbacks, so it's tough to perceive the crown from street level.
It's nice though.
Just for you, LL.
Thanks!
You jail a criminal even after a crime is committed. Moinian, similarly, still deserves that kick.I'd help you both, but I think we should've done this before the vandalism started...in the vain hope that it would've made a difference
...if only we could've...
Oh man....you can say that again.Very sad loss:
I photographed the magnificent Airlines Terminal Building in December 1975. At the time I had already heard rumors that it was coming down.
Also interesting in this picture are the cigarette ads on the 42nd St crosstown bus, and the Automat Restaurant in the bottom of the Terminal building; at the time maybe one of two left in New York (the other on 57th St I believe.)
My name is Nicholas West; this is my very first post to this forum, and if there was ever I place where I was interested in the subject, this is it. A nearly lifelong New Yorker; I've been making pictures of New York for over 30 years. It's beyond criminal what has been done to NY architecture in the past 40 years or so....almost unbearable to think about.
I offer greetings to everyone here on this forum and thanks to you all for creating such a fantastic repository of priceless stuff.
Last edited by Nicholas West; August 11th, 2009 at 01:05 AM.
There are some great old photos of Manhattan in THIS thread.
Wonderful and unique shots.
Welcome to the forum, Nicholas. Wow, what a fantastic photo! Thank you for sharing it. Now we have a record of both names given to this building in one place
I hope you'll show us more of your photos.
Yours may be the quintessential photograph of the the airlines building.
That photo does an excellent job of capturing the feel of NYC during that era. I love it.
Thank you all for your kind comments!
Out of curiosity I walked by the Airlines Building site yesterday and took a snapshot from the same position as my 1975 shot.
As we see, the old Deco masterpiece was replaced by this wretched dismal piece of junk, built by the Philip Morris Company and occupied in part by The Whitney Museum. Lethally boring to look at, it sucks the light and air out of the whole area and has about as much visual charm and interest as the plastic address window on a credit card bill. Fitting that it was built by a cigarette company, as you can develop cancer just looking at it.
As a matter of fact, the whole intersection is polluted with pure junk. The crappy mall-style street lamps with the oversized cardboard street signs, colored blue and white to look vaguely like the old enamel ones from the 30s.
The stately original lamps that were once along the roadway above the Grand Central entrance canopy have been unaccountably stripped off, leaving granite stumps and rusty bolts where they used to be. An eagle on a ball has been incongruously stuck there instead. An ugly orange traffic sign sticks up where the lamps used to light the way.
I have no explanation for all of this other than the conclusion that Americans hate nice things and much prefer to be surrounded by hideous crap; and I say that as an American and a lifelong New Yorker. That and they enjoy destroying old things like mindless automatons, believing that new things will always and without fail be better. It's interesting that the Chase bank, on the second floor of the building on the right edge, is still there.
Last edited by Nicholas West; August 13th, 2009 at 01:14 PM.
I wonder if air rights were freely transferable to any site in Manhattan if crimes like this would be fewer. Greedy bastards might not be inclined to raze lowrise gems and replace them with structures that utilize all of their air rights. The fact that air rights can be transferred only to limited sites diminishes their value and their marketability. If this were a normal city, this anachronistic and broken practice would be remedied. However, if someone tried to implement such a solution, every crazy New Yorker would fight it.
It is beyond amazing that a stunning Art Deco building like this was razed, but then again, consider the recent rape of The Drake, the 56th Street townhouses, and the magnificent structure on 57th and Third that filthy swine are about to tear down. What a crime!
Last edited by londonlawyer; August 13th, 2009 at 12:59 PM.
It would be very interesting to know what they razed to put up the Airlines Building.
^ The Hotel Belmont. Demolished in 1939 for the Airlines Building
That's an even bigger loss. The building where 100 Park now sits was quite nice too.
NY was (and could have remained) such a beautiful city.
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