Ever taller, ever thinner, the new condo towers racing skyward in Midtown Manhattan are breaking records for everything, including price. Sold for $95 million, the 96th floor of 432 Park Avenue will be the highest residence in the Western world. As shadows creep across Central Park, Paul Goldberger looks at the construction, architecture, and marketing of these super-luxury aeries, gauging their effect on the city’s future. — vanityfair.com
4 Comments
The shadows these buildings cast over Central Park are quite disturbing. It seems such a long time ago that Jackie Kennedy protested against overshadowing. The culture of the well-to-do appears to have become more self-absorbed and shameless. Thanks a lot to Bloomberg for rezoning.
Weren't there requirements to step up buildings to avoid shadowing at one point?
Zoning should protect, in my mind, the public interest against the private. In NYC the opposite is true; zoning is used as a tool to extract as much surplus value out of the site as possible. I think a revision of this model is long overdue, but I suspect that what it boils down to is that the relationship between government, banks and developers is too close, or too corrupt. As long as money is not taken out of politics there will be no chance of creating a less divided city, and the overshadowing of Central Park is just one small example of a much wider problem.
Thomas,
It’s funny you should say “The culture of the well-to-do appears to have become more self-absorbed and shameless.” I was just having a conversation with someone the other day and we were discussing the opinion that there appears to be less philanthropy now, compared to previous times. I think part of this situation has its roots in a class of the wealthy who don’t understand that a more balanced society is better for everyone and that everything isn’t about money.
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