Flatiron Building

Built in 1902, the 20-story Flatiron Building, designed by Daniel Burnham, has a uniquely narrow triangular footprint that resembles the prow of a massive ship, and a traditional, Beaux Arts limestone facade, built over a steel frame, that gets more complex and beautiful the longer you stare at it. Best viewed from the traffic island north of 23rd St between Broadway and Fifth Ave, this unique structure dominated the plaza back in the skyscraper era of the early 1900s. Images of the Flatiron that were published before its official opening – many thanks to the fact that this was also the time of the first mass-produced picture postcards – aroused a buzz of curiosity around the globe. Publisher Frank Munsey was one of the building’s first tenants, and from his 18th-floor offices his firm put out Munsey’s Magazine, which featured the writings of short-story writer O Henry (‘The Gift of the Magi’). His musings, along with the paintings of John Sloan and photographs by Alfred Stieglitz, best immortalized the Flatiron back in the day – along with a famous comment by actress Katherine Hepburn, who said in a TV interview once that she’d like to be admired as much as the grand old building. Today it remains one of the most photographed architectural sites in New York.