90 West Street
90 West Street, New York, NY 10006
Welcome back, everyone! I’m very excited to share about this week’s building because it has always intrigued me. I lived across the street from this building for three years and always found myself staring up in awe at her beauty. Even now, I have to look up when walking by. It’s like there are magnets on the roof or something.
90 West Street (previously known as the West Street Building), is located on the edge of the Financial District and Battery Park City. This building is obviously located on West Street which, fun fact, used to be where the west side of Manhattan ended. During the 1980s and 90s, Battery Park City was built using all the construction waste from digging the foundations of the Twin Towers. It’s like adding a guest room to your house except for 300 million dollars.
Anyhoo! The West Street Building was originally made in 1907 to be a 23-story office building for the shipping and railroad industries. This was Cass Gilbert’s, the architect, first neo-Gothic skyscraper. If you don’t know what neo-Gothic means in terms of architecture, think of steep roofs, intricate details, and heavy emphasis on vertical lines. You can also think of my very first Building of the Week: St. Patrick’s Cathedral!!!
Gilbert (10/10 name btw) wanted all of the focus to go towards the top of this building. He used vertical lines in the design to pull your eyes up toward the painstakingly detailed upper levels and roof. I just learned that the official term for this kind of roof is a ‘mansard roof’. And this one is 3-stories high! Wow!
The design of this building is chef’s kiss. I feel it’s appropriate to bring this tweet ^ back. Also, this may beat Liberty Tower (week 9) in terms of fanciful subjects. I’m obsessed with the use of color in these designs. You can tell an abundance of effort and craftsmanship went into this building. The facade was almost entirely clad in terra cotta. Even the inside of the building used terra cotta, mainly for fireproofing. Unfortunately, that’s gonna come in handy later.
90 West St. is located right next door to the former Twin Towers. The 9/11 attacks caused the north side of the building a significant amount of damage. The roof was destroyed and eight floors were gutted or heavily damaged by fire. Thanks to that trusty terra cotta, they were able to restore the shell thanks to the terra cotta fireproofing.
It took three years to restore this building. I’m honestly surprised it didn’t take longer considering the amount of detail on the facade. Contractors had to replace 75 percent of the north facade’s granite, and 7,853 pieces of terra cotta. The building was converted from office space to residential.
me and my squad
I’m a little bit bummed at the interior of these apartments. I get that they only took 3 years to restore and convert this building, but there is a noticeable lack of charm in these units. They aren’t bad! They’re just not as fanciful as the outside. Sigh. A girl can dream. At least the lobby and terrace are beautifully designed! Here is the link to the StreetEasy listing for all you snoopers out there.
Fun Facts
2 years ago a man in a suit was recorded jumping across the rooftop awnings. This video came up on my for-you page on TikTok and I was shocked. I saw so many jokes about how he is probably running from the husband of the woman he’s having an affair with. Not to disappoint, but turns out it was a contractor who was up there fixing a leak. No protective gear or equipment, just a suit and a dream. OSHA Shmosha, I say!
Anyway, enjoy this picture of Parker from his walk to work this morning :)
he boot too big for he gotdam feet
Alright party people that’s all for this week. I didn’t spend as much time on this one as I usually do because I’m working on something BIG!
You’ll see.
You’ll all see.
Anyways… see you next week! Toodaloo!
Want to make a building suggestion? Go here!
Here’s a sign-up link for this newsletter to send to anyone your heart desires! Send it to your friends, enemies, government officials, etc.!
Comments