Optical Illusion

This lovely old building on Fifth Avenue in the 30s, while bright white on the Avenue side, seems to bear a pale green tint on the street side, as if it were made of oxidized metal or a specific type of colored marble. The fancy of a creative architect a century ago?

No. It's the reflection of the monstrous, light green, glass-and-metal tower that's being built one block to the north. This means that the poor old, 105-year-old, Renaissance Revival building, infinitely handsomer than its neighbor, will have to bear a sickly pallor the rest of its days.

I imagine the tower likewise casts a green tone to the faces of passersby. Which probably accurately depicts what they're feeling inside when they look at the new skyscraper.