Abandoned gem in Manhattan

**buildingsofdetroit** · June-17-10, 02:41 PM

This is incredible. Yes, it's not Detroit, I know, but it's interesting how abandoned gems in NYC fare compared with those in Detroit. Those amazing dragons never would have survived a year in Detroit, let alone 60 years. It must be locked up tight. No graffiti. No scrapping. What an incredible building.

http://www.scoutingny.com/?p=2164

**DetroitZack** · June-17-10, 02:45 PM

Good Lord, that is beautiful. Walking by you wouldn't think the building is abandoned.

**jonathanlivingstonseagull** · June-17-10, 02:59 PM

That is awesome! The atrium rocks.

**Detroitnerd** · June-17-10, 03:01 PM

Tear that schitt down!

**iheartthed** · June-17-10, 03:03 PM

It's been empty almost as long as the Lafayette. It surely must be time to tear it down......

**rb336** · June-17-10, 03:12 PM

One reason it hasn't been scavanged is location - there just isn't anywhere to park a truck! if that is where I think it is, it's right across from city hall, or very nearby. I think the Dept of Ed ran a program out of the first floor in the 90s

**rb336** · June-17-10, 03:15 PM

Originally Posted by iheartthed

It's been empty almost as long as the Lafayette. It surely must be time to tear it down......

you surely aren't comparing this work of art with the Lafeyette?

**Detroitnerd** · June-17-10, 03:35 PM

Originally Posted by rb336

you surely aren't comparing this work of art with the Lafeyette?

Yeah. The Lafayette was just an irreplaceable neo-classical office building by C. Howard Crane, covered in brick, limestone and terra cotta. Who need that?

**bailey** · June-17-10, 04:03 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

Yeah. The Lafayette was just an irreplaceable neo-classical office building by C. Howard Crane, covered in brick, limestone and terra cotta. Who need that?

....that was barely maintained when it was occupied and then left to rot when it was finally abandoned by the owners. Per the article, 5 Beekman gave off the appearance of being occupied and likely occupied by the very wealthy. When could any empty property in Detroit say that? That's either a product of responsible owners or a city that would not put up with a blighted property standing open to the elements in a downtown area....either way, if it was in Detroit it'd have met the same fate as the Layfayette

**iheartthed** · June-17-10, 04:06 PM

Originally Posted by bailey

....that was barely maintained when it was occupied and then left to rot when it was finally abandoned by the owners. Per the article, 5 Beekman gave off the appearance of being occupied and likely occupied by the very wealthy. When could any empty property in Detroit say that? That's either a product of responsible owners or a city that would not put up with a blighted property standing open to the elements in a downtown area....either way, if it was in Detroit it'd have met the same fate as the Layfayette

I think we have a winner.

[[But they wouldn't have paid for it to be demolished either.)

**GOAT** · June-17-10, 04:19 PM

I have to agree with Bailey's assessment. For one Detroit allows buildings not to be secured or at the most half-assed secured. But then again the cops have too much shit to do. Where is by-law enforcement?
If the city has enough money to pay the fools on council with new cars and body guards, they have enough money for by-law officers.

**iheartthed** · June-17-10, 04:26 PM

Originally Posted by GOAT

I have to agree with Bailey's assessment. For one Detroit allows buildings not to be secured or at the most half-assed secured. But then again the cops have too much shit to do. Where is by-law enforcement?
If the city has enough money to pay the fools on council with new cars and body guards, they have enough money for by-law officers.

It's not the cops job to enforce building codes.

**GOAT** · June-17-10, 04:36 PM

Right. But traspassing is their's to enforce.

**iheartthed** · June-17-10, 04:48 PM

Originally Posted by GOAT

Right. But traspassing is their's to enforce.

If the owners were properly maintaining their properties then there wouldn't be much opportunity for trespassing.

**GOAT** · June-17-10, 05:00 PM

Easy to say when fucktards can pry off the wood or even blow-torch off metal that has been put on to secure the building. Sure not in all cases, probably not in most but it isn't just the owners of these buildings. Everyone has played a part in the disintegration of the city.

**Islandman** · June-17-10, 05:20 PM

Those dragons are amazing.

**One Shot** · June-17-10, 05:27 PM

HOLY CRAP! That place is awesome. Sad part is we HAD things like that around here but we all know what happened. This might be one of the coolest things I've read on here all year. THANKS!

**n7hn** · June-17-10, 05:56 PM

The amazing thing to me is that is sat for so long somewhere where real estate actually has value..... Just unexplainable.

**Gsgeorge** · June-17-10, 06:32 PM

We have a similar building right here in Detroit. Equally well-preserved and seemingly unknown by regulars in the city, Detroit's David Whitney features a similarly soaring atrium and is waiting for the kind of redevelopment that the Beekman folks seem to have in mind.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsgeorge/4354953327/

Wow. I'd take that over the Lafayette any day. The current owners have posted security at the site and do random repairs, so there are "plans" for its eventual rebirth. But because the site is well-protected and not largely publicized, the general public seems to know little about what lurks inside the tall white building on Grand Circus Park.

**cman710** · June-17-10, 11:36 PM

The Alder Manor is located in Yonkers, not New York City. See here for the location. It really is a beautiful mansion.

**wolverine** · June-18-10, 12:20 AM

It's in most Detroit vacant building owners' interests for them to become a liability and eventually be torn down. If it were in their interests to sell them they would be:

1. Properly secured
2. Properly maintained
3. Possibly leased by now.

But because they aren't, building owners remain complacent to the ravaging done by scrappers, vandals, and the biggest offender....weather.

Originally Posted by Gsgeorge

The current owners have posted security at the site and do random repairs, so there are "plans" for its eventual rebirth. But because the site is well-protected and not largely publicized, the general public seems to know little about what lurks inside the tall white building on Grand Circus Park.

I'd like to build on this point. Security took a one month hiatus on the Whitney and a reasonable amount of damage was done to the interior. Much of that damage was later repaired only after a guard was restaffed and the unanswered security system was reset. Point is, you let these places go, they are doomed.

**rb336** · June-18-10, 07:07 AM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

Yeah. The Lafayette was just an irreplaceable neo-classical office building by C. Howard Crane, covered in brick, limestone and terra cotta. Who need that?

it was a rather uninspired effort, esp. for that era