Thursday, December 13, 2012

Reflecting on 51 Astor Place

Enough glass up here on 51 Astor Place that we can do this...


... shaping up. Like it any better now with glass?


Previously.

14 comments:

Pinch said...

Is is bad to say that as much as I hate all of these glass fucking buildings, I kind of dig that reflection? Maybe it is.

glamma said...

Negative.

James C. Taylor said...

Those zip-ties don't seem so bad now...

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to be blinded to the point of insanity when the sun hits it just right. Upside is maybe some tourists or NYU brats will be smashed by a bus while texting AND blinded. That part I can support.

Anonymous said...

turning out better than i feared so far...

pinhead said...

No. Like it not better.

Richard said...

It was pretty clever for them to get around the problem of not fitting into the neighborhood by putting the whole building in stealth cloaking mode. When you look at it all you see is the other buildings facing it, so it fits in perfectly no matter where you put it!

To be honest, I owe this building an apology. I don't actually hate it any more than I hated the eyesore it replaces. And it's adjacent to the two ugliest buildings in all of New York City: 41 Cooper Square and the vile Astor Place Tower. It would be hard to complain that 51 Astor is making things any worse than those two already have.

Laura Goggin Photography said...

No. It ruins the view of the ESB from Bowery.

Anonymous said...

Honest to god, even in my wildest dreams, I didn't think this structure would make me feel as bad as it does whenever I am near it. The prospect of it coming into being was always depressing, and I knew I would hate it once it was built. But I seriously didn't realize how absolutely, devastatingly oppressive, and just outright confounding it would make me feel emotionally when I am around Astor Square area.
They could build a dozen more Avalon Chrystie's on the Bowery and it would not have anything near the affect that this one building has at Astor Place. I truly feel lost when I am there. Like I'm in a weird dream.

Anonymous said...

770 Broadway on the other hand is quite a handsome building. Striking contrast between it and the mirrored glass piece of shit. 51 Astor, what have you got against aesthetic enjoyment? Why so cold and forbidding? What is the point of it? Something so big, that so many people and neighbors have to look at and live with, why not make it look tasteful? Nothing wrong with a little bit of style. Was it that much cheaper to build it that way? That does not look like a building IMO, it looks merely like a giant mirror.

Anonymous said...

Not bird friendly :(

La Muzz said...

It seems to be par for the course that this part of the EV is taking. Will see once it is complete, but... meh.

Makeout said...

@ anon 10:32- Yes bro!

Anonymous said...

My. God. That. Is. Ugly.

Looks as cheap and generic as an Ikea bookshelf.

- East Vilager