Skyscrapers have been a part of New York City for almost one hundred years. Some were built to be the highest in the world at the time. Some had extravagant designs, and some were very simple. In this address, I will focus on two skyscrapers, the New York World building and the Flatiron building, both with very interesting stories behind them. The New York World building was completed in 1890 for Joseph Pulitzer, the Prize’s namesake, to house his daily newspaper, The New York World. It was the tallest building in the world at the time. The building and its’ prestigious location in the heart of Manhattan’s Newspaper Row, across from City Hall, did not come cheap, even in 1890. At the time, there was an intense rivalry between Pulitzer’s World and news baron William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal, the basis for Orson Well’s controversial film Citizen Kane. The Journal labeled the World of being “Yellow Journalism”, or printing worthless slosh.The World building itself was a thin, neo-Renaissance tower with tiers of arched windows. A tall drum supported the crowning dome, complete with a fine gold finish. The building was demolished in 1955 to accommodate a better approach to the Brooklyn Bridge, widening Frankfurt Street and re-routing Park Row.Still standing today, however is the Flatiron building. This structure has made an appearance in modern media through the television show “Veronica’s Closet”. The 22 story Flatiron was completed in 1902. The 92-meter high building became an immediate midtown landmark, a large wedge-shape diving Broadway from Fifth Avenue. The building has a steel frame and a non-load bearing masonry facade, built to remake a classical column with a protruding, ornamented base and top. This building is also equipped with an electric generator to provide it with its own electricity and heat. It was first called the Fuller Building, aft...
