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Some Old Difficulties

Continuing the story of the demolition of the Gillender and Stevens Buildings, as preparation for constructing the Bankers Trust Building, the picture above shows the demo of Gillender roughly half complete. The facade and terra-cotta floors have been removed down to the tenth floor (of the original nineteen) and the steel demolition is in full swing …

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Dual Purpose

These old construction photos I’ve been picking apart come from the New York Public Library’s collection. They’re from a series of photo albums and the collection is labelled “PHOTOGRAPHS OF BUILDINGS UNDER CONSTRUCTION, 1901-1935” but it seems that the connection is that they are all buildings designed by the architects Trowbridge & Livingston. The photo …

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It Looked Familiar: Landmarks

Above, a street scene immediately before some very bad things happen in a Gotham City story without Batman, “GCPD: The Blue Wall.” Below Apple’s “Look Around” looking west on 22nd Street from just east of Fifth Avenue. The tall building on the left (above the word balloon “They wanted to know…”) is the Sohmer Piano Building; the …

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Spotted From the El

A building in Chicago with a problem we see all the time in New York. The front facade – on the right, around the corner – has hard-burned brick veneer with thin joints. That’s the classic nineteenth century fancy brick. The side wall – the one we’re looking at – is common brick with wide …

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