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- Hacker News
- “Hidden by billboards for over 100 years, the tiny holdout building in the middle of Macy’s is back in view”
Initial word of headline necessary for comprehension
by Terretta - Fixed (from “by billboards for over 100 years …” or something, previously)by Barbing
- Man, can you imagine something like that in the current regulatory environment.
The geniuses on all the various boards would block the Macys building on all sorts of asinine grounds because the carve out is odd and perhaps looks stupid. Or Macys would pay off the city to eminent domain the hold out.
- That building looks horrible, do people live there?
- It just needs some minor cleaning and renovation.by codedokode
- Ground floor is a shop, pepper floors are basically empty.by hdgvhicv
- I know. I was expecting something easier on the eye. Maybe a century of being behind billboards has wrecked it. The 1906/1907 photographs look much better.by nephihaha
- Not on the really rough looking floors. It has been used as a huge billboard for a very long time.by UltraSane
- I was thinking the same question. It certainly looks unoccupied -I can’t imagine people living in the other side but then again it _could_ be very well maintained and decorated on the inside despite the eyesore looks on the outside. Moreover since the lower floors are commercial it must mean that at least the upper floors are keeping out the elements.by mc32
- There are several such buildings in NYC in prime real estate areas that are kept empty in order to prioritize billboard revenue.by wahnfrieden
- You know your facade sucks when it looks better with a giant billboard covering it.by amelius
- Based on the pictures I can’t imagine anyone legally living there.
I don’t know for sure, but I imagine usable windows are required for living spaces.
by nkrisc - What do you call a building that can only be seen once in a hundred years?
99% Invisible.
by iambateman - Don't you think that at the 1900s photo the city looks better? Look how wide were the sidewalks and how little cars were there.
Also, I initially thought that large store building was not historical, but a modern one because its style doesn't look classical and rather as a parody to the classical buildings. I was surprised that it is more than 100 years old.
Also, small buildings sandwitched between large ones like that look cute.
by codedokode - I used to work one block from there. For years I got off at that station and walked past the building but had no idea it was hiding something like that. Amazing!by mbStavola
- Is it more profitable to lease the space for banners as opposed to lease the apartments to tenants?by egorfine
- Land value tax solves this
- Probably since you don't have to deal with tenant issues for one.by skinfaxi
- Yes, think about the less overhead from dealing with people and building issues. Take a look at the Times Square too.by donohoe
- They have an odd definition of "middle".by dn3500
- It's a nice Saturday afternoon, and I'm literally in Midtown right now, wandering around after walking down 5th Avenue (it's shut down to cars today for "Summer Streets"). Perfect chance to walk over and take a look at this. I love city oddities like this.
EDIT: got a great view of it. Fascinating that this dilapidated structure has just been hiding in plain sight all these years.
by Trasmatta - The London version of this is Spiegelhalters, in the middle of the ornate facade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wickhams_(department_store)
- That wiki photo is hilarious!by scottconover
- Amsterdam's Victoria Hotel near Central Station also has a holdout embedded in its edifice.
https://old.reddit.com/r/SpiteHouse/comments/of5cqh/in_the_c...
by rapnie - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Million_Dollar_Corner
In September 2021, Macy's accused the billboard's owner Kaufman Realty of negotiating to lease the space to an online retailer before Macy's most recent lease expired that August. Macy's claimed that the lessee was almost certainly Amazon and filed for an injunction preventing Kaufman from leasing the space to a competitor. Macy's claimed that a 1963 agreement prohibited such a lease "forever" and that an Amazon billboard would be highly visible during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
by hdgvhicv - So was the injunction successful?by kevinwang