Designed by Daniel Burnham and built in 1902, the 20-story Flatiron Building has a narrow triangular footprint that resembles the prow of a massive ship. It also features a traditional beaux-arts limestone and terra-cotta facade, built over a steel frame, that gets more complex and beautiful the longer you stare at it. It is best viewed from the traffic island north of 23rd St between Broadway and Fifth Ave, where there's public seating and a beer and wine kiosk that enables admirers to linger.
This distinctive structure dominated the plaza back in the dawning skyscraper era of the early 1900s. Originally known as the Fuller Building, its construction coincided with the proliferation of mass-produced picture postcards – the partnership was kismet. Even before its completion, there were images of the soon-to-be tallest tower circulating the globe, creating much wonder and excitement. As by far the tallest building in the area, it also created a powerful wind tunnel around the intersection with 23rd St.
The building has been immortalized in both words and pictures, for instance with short stories by O Henry, a painting depicting a dust storm at the apex of the building by John Sloan, and a stark winter photograph by Alfred Stieglitz. Both pictures hang in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Actress Katharine Hepburn once quipped that she'd like to be admired as much as the grand old building.
Since its opening, the building was associated with publishing. Frank Munsey, who specialized in pulp magazines such as Argosy and The All-Story (and published work by O Henry), was one of the first tenants. In 1959 St Martin's Press moved in, and eventually MacMillan, its parent company, took over the whole building. Unfortunately in 2019, MacMillan moved out, leaving the building vacant – for now, a hollow icon, but an icon all the same.
