The Singer Building was once the tallest in New York City, standing at 612 feet. Built in 1908, the building was office and housed the headquarters of a sewing company (aptly enough, named Singer). Ernest Flagg was the building’s architect, and he designed it in the Beaux-Arts style.
Flagg’s work made extensive use of setbacks, where the tower rises atop the base but narrows significantly as it rises. The Singer Building was one of the best examples of this, as the building’s tower was incredibly narrow – ultimately dooming the structure.
The narrow floorplates of the Singer Building were deemed unsuitable for modern offices, and so it was demolished in 1968, just as New York’s fledgling preservationist movement had begun. In its place stands One Liberty Plaza, which is just across the street from 150 Greenwich/Four World Trade Center.
One Liberty was damaged in the September 11th attacks. The skyscraper was repaired fairly quickly, but it’s still a hulking mass. Instead of providing a direct image of the offending monster, here is the building’s reflection on the glass of 150 Greenwich.
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| One Liberty Plaza Reflection on 150 Greenwich Street |
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One Liberty Plaza is my least favorite building in NYC