This is, of course, a mess. It does stir something in me though. I would not mind seeing a return to ornamentation in contemporary design - of course, executed with more tact than this.
Luckily, this project won't be moving forward as reported by curbed. What blew me away though is that the architect seemed to confirm that this was a genuine plan for an actual developer and not a pie in the sky experimental design.
http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2015/1...7th_street.php