Good morning. I hope you had a fab long weekend!
Following on from our story last week about the Martin Luther King Jr Labor Center and the wonderful mural that’s been replicated piece-by-piece — just a block away, there is controversy about the proposed demolition of the lobby at the McGraw-Hill Art Deco Tower at 330 W42nd Street.
The building is landmarked, but the lobby is not. It holds a special place for me, as W42ST magazine had its first office there on the 17th Floor. It was also where Marvel Comics started (hence the Hell’s Kitchen connection with all those superheroes). Our neighbor on the 17th floor was a guy called Fred Papert, famed for helping to save Grand Central Terminal with the help of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
Fred was also president of the Municipal Art Society when he told New York Magazine in 1978, ”Have you seen that lobby? … If Fred Astaire worked in an office building, this would have been the one.” Read about why it’s worth saving, and find the link to the petition…
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What we’ve been reading
Does Twitter need to leave the Central Park birds alone? (New York Times)
Are you eligible for the vaccine? (NY1)
New York could be facing a long road to recovery. (Gothamist)
The nightly subway closure has been reduced to two hours. (Brooklyn Paper)
Pandemic life getting you down? It’s time to get creative. (The Conversation)
Freeze Frame
Thanks to Don Humberto Colmenares for this iceberg view of VIA from across the Hudson. Keep warm out there today…