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Endangered: 2 Columbus Circle
By
Jen Chung
Published May 25, 2004
Modified Mar 6, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published May 25, 2004
Modified Mar 6, 2008
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The National Historical Trust announced the eleven most endangered historic places in America and one of them was in New York: 2 Columbus Circle, that weird looking building south of Columbus Circle. The Historic Trust admits that the design is "controversial," calling it a "nationally recognized icon of the Modern Movement," with "a marble skin, porthole windows and a street-level arcade that critics have likened to a row of lollipops, the unorthodox building is radically different from the glass-and-steel boxes typical of its era." While the space, long vacated, is slated to be the new Museum of Art and Design, the Historic Trust is worried that new plans to renovate the building (by Brad Cloepfil) will "rob America of an engagingly quirky icon of the recent past." Gothamist has never been a huge fan of 2 Columbus Circle - there's quirky, and then there's ugly, but, then again, maybe we're reacting to stench of urine from underneath the scaffolding there - but considering the addition of the Time Warner Center and the looming Trump International across the street, keeping some signs of what Columbus Circle used to be might be a good idea.
Architect Edward Durrell Stone also designed the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Learn more about NYC's landmarks through the NYC Landmarks Commission and Conservancy. And also on the National Historic Trust's list of endangered historic places: The state of Vermont.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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