Flatiron Building

The Flatiron Building, first called the Fuller Building, is a 22-story steel-framed skyscraper that stands 307 feet tall at 175 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. It opened in 1902, designed by architects Daniel Burnham and Frederick P. Dinkelberg. The structure occupies a triangular block where Fifth Avenue, Broadway, and East 22nd Street meet; its narrow back end is 87 feet wide on 22nd Street, while the northern tip grazes East 23rd Street. The nickname "Flatiron" comes from its shape, which resembles a cast-iron clothes iron. Often called one of the world's most iconic skyscrapers and a quintessential symbol of New York City, the building marks the southern end of Madison Square and the northern edge of the Ladies' Mile Historic District. The surrounding neighborhood is known as the Flatiron District, named after this landmark.

The building was originally developed as headquarters for the Fuller Company, which bought the site from the Newhouse family in May 1901. Construction moved quickly, and the building opened on October 1, 1902, at an initial height of 285 feet. Early on, skeptics called it "Burnham's Folly," doubting its structural safety. It originally had 20 floors; shortly after opening, a low attached retail space called a "cowcatcher" and a penthouse were added. The Fuller Company sold the building in 1925 to an investment syndicate. After a foreclosure auction in 1933, the Equitable Life Assurance Society took over, then sold it to another syndicate in 1945.

For much of the late 20th century, Helmsley-Spear managed the building and renovated it several times. The Newmark Group took over management in 1997. Ownership later split among several companies, which began another renovation in 2019. In early 2023, Jacob Garlick agreed to buy the building at auction but failed to pay the required deposit, so three of the four existing ownership groups retained it. In October 2023, the owners announced plans to convert the building into residential condominiums, with completion expected by 2026.

The facade is divided vertically into three sections, like a classical column. The three-story base is clad in limestone, while the upper stories use glazed terracotta. The steel frame, engineered by Purdy and Henderson, was designed to withstand four times the area's maximum wind force. The building was designated a New York City landmark in 1966, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, and named a National Historic Landmark in 1989.

The site is a triangular block bounded by Fifth Avenue to the west, Broadway to the east, and 22nd Street to the south. The western and eastern facades meet at a peak where Fifth Avenue and Broadway intersect with East 23rd Street. This shape results from Broadway's diagonal path through the Manhattan grid. The lot measures 197.5 feet on Fifth Avenue, 214.5 feet on Broadway, and 86 feet on 22nd Street. All three ground-level corners are rounded. Despite the name, the site is a scalene right triangle, not an isosceles one like a real flatiron. Nearby buildings include the Toy Center to the north, the Sohmer Piano Building to the southwest, the Scribner Building to the south, and Madison Green to the southeast. The 23rd Street subway station (served by the R and W trains) has entrances adjacent to the building. The Flatiron Building sits within the Ladies' Mile Historic District, which runs from 15th Street to 24th Street.

Before the Flatiron Building, the St. Germain Hotel stood on the south end of the lot by 1855, one of several hotels in the area. Amos Eno bought the entire block in 1857 for $32,000 and soon built the Fifth Avenue Hotel diagonally across. After 1880, Eno tore down the St. Germain and replaced it with a seven-story apartment building called the Cumberland. On the rest of the lot, he built four three-story commercial buildings. This left the Cumberland's northern face exposed, and Eno rented it to advertisers, including *The New York Times*, which installed an electric-light sign—the first of its kind in New York City, foreshadowing the Great White Way near Times Square. Eno later added a canvas screen and projected images from a magic lantern atop one of his smaller buildings, alternating ads with pictures. Both the *Times* and the *New-York Tribune* used the screen for news bulletins; on election nights, tens of thousands gathered in Madison Square to see results. The site became known as "Eno's flatiron," "Eno's corner," and "the cow catcher." By the 1890s, the Eno family earned $42,000 yearly from the site. Eno refused all offers to buy it during his lifetime. After his death in 1899, his assets were liquidated, and the lot went up for sale. The New York State Assembly appropriated $3 million for the city to buy it, but the deal fell through.