Kress and Company Building, 1935. Designed by Brooklyn architect Edward Sibbert, the seven-story flagship Kress and Co. store on Fifth Avenue was the crowing glory of Sibbert 's career as the chief architect for Kress. He created more than 50 stores for the dime store chain. The marble Art Deco structure included Mayan motifs in the interior. This Kress store survived until 1977, though it was no longer the flagship and was only using the basement and first two floors of the building in the last few years. Kress & Co. went entirely out of business in 1980. The lot at the corner of 39th Street and Fifth Avenue is currently part of the HSBC Tower.

America adopted the bald eagle as the emblem of the United States of America in 1782. The eagle symbolized strength, beauty, long life, flight, and freedom, characterized by its lofty flight and mountain top nesting. It not surprising then, with these idolized attributes, that the eagle would become an oft-seen decorative feature in architecture and memorial sculpture. In New York, a city that prides itself on its role as a powerful, resilient, and endlessly innovative center of financial, political and cultural life, the eagle has been incorporated into the built environment. Architects, designers, and sculptors have decorated their banks, civic buildings, statues of war heroes, skyscrapers, and airports (of course) with the noble birds. To see them, you usually just need to look up.

Knox Building, 1944. Designed by architect John H. Duncan, who also created the Grand Army Plaza Memorial Arch and the General Grant National Memorial, the Knox Building was constructed in 1901 and 1902. The 10-story Beaux-Arts structure was the headquarters for the Knox Hat Company (founded in 1838). The Beaux-Arts style for a commercial building was unique even in a city dotted by buildings of this style, most of which were residences, hotels, and civic buildings. In 1965 the building became the headquarters for the Republic National Bank and in 1985 work was undertaken to construct a 29-story L-shaped tower that hugged the 1902 building. The new construction unfortunately meant the demise of the neighboring Art Deco Kress building. Today the Knox mansard remains a striking visual on the corner, with the HSBC Tower as its modern backdrop.

Wendel Mansion, 1934. In the early 20th century one family could lay claim to the title of most powerful landlords in New York City. The Wendel family owned more than 150 properties in Manhattan and had a net worth of what would be billion dollars today. They owned the land under some of Manhattan's most well known buildings, including the Standard Oil Building and the Time-Life Building. Unlike some flashy real estate moguls (of the past and today) the Wendel's were private in their wealth and their lives. The origins of the families money and land holdings dated to John G. Wendel, a German fur trader who arrived in New York at the end of the 18th century and befriended and then married into the Astor family. The grandchildren of the first John Wendel included six sisters and a brother who lived in a mansion on the corner of 39th Street and Fifth Avenue. The home had no electricity and no phone, and the inhabitants wore clothes and lived as though they were still in the 19th century. The brother John was known as "The Hermit of Fifth Avenue,” and tightly controlled his sisters' lives until his death in 1914. The home was constructed around 1856 by the first John Wendel. Sitting on a large corner plot, it had a considerable carriage house and back-yard. The ever-frugal family hung their laundry out to dry in the yard, annoying their neighbors. When the final sister died in 1931 the four-story mansion still had gaslights, an ancient coal stove, and more ancient servants. The large yard, which was then an uncommon open space among the large commercial buildings surrounding it had been used largely as a dog park for the last sister's poodle. The family's fortune was divided among a number of charities and institutions, including Drew University in New Jersey. The Fifth Avenue mansion was given as a bequest to the school. The home was demolished in 1934. Today a bronze plaque with a image of the home and a bit of family history graces the structure built in its place.

Knox Building ARCHITECT: John H. Duncan DATE: 1901-02 STYLE: Beaux-Arts The Knox Building is one of the finest Beaux-Arts style commercial buildings in New York City. It was designed by the notable New York City architect John H. Duncan who had achieved his reputation with his designs for the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch and Grant’s Tomb. This favored motifs as full facade rustication, large scale ornament, and a two-story mansard roof are carried over from Duncan’s residential designs and here skillfully transmuted to a large commercial building.