It's Not All Glass and Steel: The Sutton Wants to Fit In

April 24, 2015 — With all the new construction happening in New York City, including towering luxury condos made of glass and steel, it's easy for the more nostalgic among us to mourn how much and how fast the city is changing. Yes, all those shiny buildings may symbolize modernity, but it's transforming a city that was once so appealing, so unique — because of its beautiful, ornate architecture — into one that, at the end of the day, is just like any other big city. The Singer Building is long gone. The Drake Hotel is no more. We still have the Woolworth, thank goodness. It's not too homogenous yet: you can still walk around and see beautiful brickwork. And not all of the new buildings that are rising all over the city are all glass and steel, even if they are still very tall. The Sutton — a 30-story condominium rising at 959 First Avenue — may be too tall for some people's taste, but it is trying to fit in with nearby traditional walk-ups and the overall historic flavor of the neighborhood with its design. Or is it? The New York Times reports that the "building will be clad mostly in brick rather than in glass and steel, 'to be reflective of a lot of the buildings that were erected a century ago,' [according to] David Von Spreckelsen, the president of the New York City division of Toll Brothers City Living, the owner of the Sutton, which recently started selling its 113 apartments." Mostly clad in brick… but there's still a lot of glass; the rendering looks rather boxy and doesn't really evoke that gorgeous, old New York. 

Rendering of the Sutton from Toll Brothers City Living.