One Fifth Avenue is a residential skyscraper in the Washington Square area of
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
. It was designed by
Harvey Wiley Corbett of the firm Helme & Corbett.
In 1926, developer Joseph G. Siegel leased the lot on the southeast corner of
8th Street and
Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...
from Sailors' Snug Harbor.
Construction began in 1926,
and the building opened in 1927 as an
apartment hotel with 2- and 3-room units.
When first built, it was received with both acclaim and controversy,
called "a 27-story apartment hotel, a thing of rare beauty" and "a modern skyscraper in a neighborhood of brownstones".
It was converted to a co-op in 1976,
and is "one of the Village's most desirable co-ops."
Architecture
The architectural style has been described as
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
and
modern
Modern may refer to:
History
* Modern history
** Early Modern period
** Late Modern period
*** 18th century
*** 19th century
*** 20th century
** Contemporary history
* Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century
Phil ...
,
and having "a vaguely Venetian or Gothic cast",
although ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' assessed it as "astylar, more 'tall building' than anything else."
The flat exterior incorporates brick of different colors to create the illusion of depth.
In popular culture
* The building appears in the painting ''Behind the Square'' by
Niles Spencer
Niles Spencer (16 May 1893 – 15 May 1952) was an American painter of the Precisionist School who specialized in depicting urban and industrial landscapes. His works are in the permanent collections of several major museums including the Metr ...
.
* The now-closed One Fifth Restaurant was a location of
Woody Allen
Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
's 1989 ''
Crimes and Misdemeanors'' and in the 1978
Jill Clayburgh film ''
An Unmarried Woman''.
* Writer
Candace Bushnell
Candace Bushnell (born December 1, 1958) is an American author, journalist, and television producer. She wrote a column for ''The New York Observer'' (1994–96) that was adapted into the bestselling ''Sex and the City (book), Sex and the City'' ...
's 2008 novel ''
One Fifth Avenue
''One Fifth Avenue'' is a 2008 novel by Candace Bushnell about the residents of the prestigious building. Its characters include a middle aged screenwriter, a novelist with a bad marriage, and a hedge fund manager's wife.
"With a breezy pace ...
'' is named for and set at the building.
*The sign indicating its address is found by the other girls from Miss Hannigan's orphanage in the 1982 film ''
Annie
Annie may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name
* Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress
* Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer
The ...
'' while they are searching for 987 Fifth Avenue.
See also
*
List of former hotels in Manhattan
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:One Fifth Avenue
Apartment buildings in New York City
Condominiums and housing cooperatives in Manhattan
Defunct hotels in Manhattan
Fifth Avenue
Hotel buildings completed in 1927
Residential skyscrapers in Manhattan