Quote:
Originally Posted by njcco
Sorry, I know the Hotel Pennsylvania is a McKim, Mead & White building, but even they had some bad ones, and this was a really bad one. I have waited for years for this flea-trap to be demolished, and I fear it will be there for many more years. It is an obsolete and disgusting building - the renovation will simply be putting lipstick on a rotting carcass of a pig.
As to the Pelli discussion above, Pelli does seem to have run out of new ideas. That said, his buildings are awfully handsome. I work near the GS building in Jersey City and it has really grown on me over the years.
|
I don't know of many, if any, BAD McKim, Meade, and White Buildings. I guess White's remake of the UVa Rotunda was considered "Bad" by Jeffersonian standards and was redone later, but that's it. Certainly their work in NYC was nothing short of spectacular, this hotel included. Look up the old pictures of the lobby. What you see now is a "modern" updated look.
The hotel should be restored to its original grandeur and landmarked.
I am all for supertalls in NYC. I am for Torre Verre, the giant bland box on Park Ave (I just hate the design), and I don't care about the views or vistas from the West to see the Empire State building. I hate NIMBYism, but no supertall in this day and age is worth losing a McKim Meade and White. This building could easily be built somewhere else in the immediate area. Look at the mess of subway and retail in a 2 story low rise right on the corner of 34th and 7th right next door. I would hate to make the same mistake again after what happened to the original Penn Station and lose another irreplaceable piece of historic architecture.