Anatomy of No. 5

Today's Anatomy session concerns a Percy Loomis Sperr photograph of No. 5, evidenced by his embossed name at the bottom, and no doubt commissioned by his boss, the New York Public Library, in 1929. More on Sperr here.   

In the center of the photograph is the four-story house, 8 Prospect Place, that was preventing the development on the west side of the street. We see its rear side, and on the bottom two floors, there is some sort of circular design repeated. There is no indication of what this could be. Could it be an early start on a beer garden?       

Showing the lumber piled up near the main entrance of No. 5.

Tracking upward, there is still much to do. The windows all appear to be in, but otherwise it's rather dark and foreboding.

On East 40th Street, the construction shed at the corner of 1st Avenue suggests they are nowhere near to finishing. 

Beyond the area that French controls, the landscape dramatically drops twenty feet. 

Lastly, a look at the roof. What appears to be No. 5's weathervane is sheathed in protective scaffolding before permanent placement. More about it here.