On this sloping vacant site next to (what was then) a railyard, architect Raymond Hood built a strikingly modern showroom for the appliance chain Rex Cole in 1931. The Fourth Avenue frontage consisted of a triangular-shaped single story rendered in plate glass to provide passersby with a good view of the merchandise. On the backside, an open atrium sat above the showroom. The whole looks seemed to be that of a "conning tower of some modernist submarine," according to architectural writer Christoper Gray. At the very top stood a 15-foot replica of a GE model refrigerator.