Response
The overall public was impressed with the structure, many in awe of its height and mammoth proportions. As one of the earliest of the "modern skyscrapers", it towered at least 15 to 20 stories over most of its neighbors.
With essentially no comparable structures against which to measure the building's strengths and weaknesses, the criticism from the architectural community was quite harsh. The New York Times quoted a critic, who in 1898 wrote in The Real Estate Record and Guide, "New York is the only city in which such a monster would be allowed to rear itself," and called the blank side walls "absolutely inexpressive and vacuous." In a 1908 article in The New York Times, a French architect, Augustin-Adolphe Rey, wrote that "one side of it is an entirely bare wall — what difference does it make how the other sides are treated?" Critic Jean Schopfer called the building "detestable".
The building did have admirers, including the photographers Alvin Langdon Coburn and Charles Sheeler. Sheeler included the building in the 1920 film he made with Paul Strand, Manhatta.
Read more about this topic: Park Row Building
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