For six months in 1936, this “House of the Modern Age” — a prefabricated, modernist, all-steel, one-family home — stood on a Park Avenue “million-dollar lot.” The house, advertised as “fireproof, cyclone-proof, termite- and lightning-proof,” was designed by Chrysler Building architect William Van Alen and assembled by National Houses, Inc., at a cost of $10,000. One of many experimental houses built during the Depression, it attracted 110,000 visitors who paid ten cents a tour. Abbott photographed the house the day before it was torn down, showing it surrounded by relics of Victorian Murray Hill, including the Murray Hill Hotel, which in turn were encircled by new skyscrapers. Today the “million-dollar lot” is occupied by an office building.."

The former Lincoln Safe Deposit Company Building, 42nd Street, ca. 1910. Built on the eve of the twentieth century, the Lincoln Safe Deposit Company building stood diagonally across 42nd Street from the old Grand Central Depot. The transition to electric trains, and the erection of the new Grand Central Terminal with covered tunnels and state-of-the-art engineering that shielded tall buildings from railroad vibrations, brought on rapid changes in this area that would would through the 19120s, culminating in an explosion of Art Deco skyscrapers and apartment buildings. The Lincoln Safe Deposit Company building- which had a branch of the Lincoln National Bank within, was replaced by the 54-story Lincoln Building.

Heckscher Building, 1916. August Heckscher, a German-born real estate developer, built this Madison Avenue skyscraper in 1916. Though it was constructed before the 1916 Zoning Resolution codifying setback requirements for skyscrapers, the Heckscher Building, designed by Jardine, Hill & Murdock, featured a five-story base, with a setback 27-story tower above. However, as reported by Christopher Gray in a 2002 Streetscapes column, Heckscher’s then-unique design had more to do with the peculiarities of lease terms for some of the assembled Madison Avenue plots. Be that as it may, the Heckscher building now stands among a thicket of Midtown skyscrapers, each with its own creative response to the 1916 regulation preserving light and open space.

Hotel Belmont, 1922. The Hotel Belmont was the tallest hotel in the world when completed in 1906. Built over subway infrastructure (which necessitated considerable underground supporting columns) the 23-story hotel was designed by Grand Central Terminal architects Warren and Wetmore. Despite the high cost and the ornate nature of the building, it was not reviewed favorably upon opening. The Architecture Record called the the cornice “ponderous” and “rather loud.” A critic had even more negative opinions of the interior where he found decorative features to be questionable, useless, and boring. He also called the entranceway “rather cold and uninviting." Despite these judgements, the hotel was successful, its proximity to the train terminal a major benefit. In 1930, quietly and with little fanfare, the hotel closed. On May 3, after a final luncheon, the full-time residents moved out. The furniture, housewares, decorative features, and utilitarian items were sold at auction. Demolished in 1931, plans for a skyscraper were floated but nothing came of them. After three years of being vacant, construction began on the low rise Art Deco Airlines Terminal Building, which was completed in the early 1940s.

Lefcourt-Colonial Building, 1930. The Lefcourt-Colonial is a 45-story, Art Deco office building that was commissioned in 1930 by Abraham E. Lefcourt. Designed by the Charles F. Moyer Company and Bark & Djorup, the building has a storied history as part of Lefcourt's real estate empire. While the Lefcourt Colonial is only one of Lefcourt's many buildings in New York (20 in Manhattan!), it is one of his most iconic. The building's most prominent feature, its tower, can actually be seen from almost any point in the midtown area!