William Waldorf Astor's Porn Palace

In recent months, I've found myself glancing fondly at the old building on the northwest corner of Eighth Avenue and 46th Street. It's a poignant sight, girdled with a sidewalk shed, its windows all punched out and half-covered with plywood, an old sign for a now-gone pizzeria still clinging to the side of the edifice.

I'm sure most people take one look at the thing, cringe, and pray for the day the wrecking ball removes the eyesore. And when they are told that, for the past 30 years, it's been the home of the most sordid sorts of businesses—porno video store, "massage" parlor, sex shops and the like—they'd no doubt further wonder at my lunatic affection.

But I'll be very sorry to see it go. Bit by bit, Eighth Avenue from 42nd up has become a canyon of glass and metal. 733 Eighth Avenue is one of the last prewar, low-scale, brick buildings on this Theatre District thoroughfare. Though it is undeniably worse for wear, it still gives me a warmer feeling than does the Platinum condo tower across the street. It's not a bad building, actually. If it were cleaned up, it would be quite handsome in a modest way.

Given the property's gritty recent past, it's wonderful to consider that, for 70 years, this address was the possession of the Astor family. From 1853 to 1921, the Astors owned this corner, as well as a number of properties on W. 46th. (The Astors once owned the building that now houses Barbetta.) They divested themselves of the area when it got a little too raffish for their tastes—and, not incidentally, when the property values skyrocketed. Lee Kamioner, Max Scott and Emanuel van Dernoot were the purchasers of 733.

A few years ago, during the Boom Years, a 46-story silver tower by Fegan/Berg/Architects PC was announced for this corner, a bookend tombstone to go with the Platinum. That's a rendering of it below. But a Stop Work order was issued by the DOB last year when the developers began tearing down the third to fifth floors of 733 without a permit. It's been still as the grave since then.