Tiffany Shines in Union Square, Briefly

This interesting story appeared in the New York Times yesterday.

Seems construction at 15 Union Square West has reminded the City that this building was once home to Tiffany & Company at the end of the 19th century. The broadsheet tells how you can sneak a peak at the original architecture along the 15th Street side, including "gently curving third-floor windows."

The story had a sad ending, though:

Feeling that Union Square had coarsened, Tiffany decamped in 1905 for Fifth Avenue and 37th Street. Twenty years later, the Union Square building was taken over by the Amalgamated Bank. In 1953, after a passer-by was fatally injured by a piece of loose cast iron, Amalgamated had the structure stripped and reclad.

According to city permits now posted at the construction site, the plan is to remove the facade entirely, add seven floors and convert the building to apartments.

Sigh.