It is so cold this week in New York! And it will be cold the next week too! So I even do not want to write about anything outside- I'd like to talk about something interesting that you can find indoors- but without spending money! There is a very good abbreviation in New York: POP- privately owned public space. During the winter season, indoor heated POPS are a pedestrian’s and tourist's best friend. The 1961 Zoning Resolution inaugurated the incentive zoning program in New York City. The program encouraged private developers to provide spaces for the public within or outside their buildings by allowing them greater density in certain high-density districts. I wrote about the history of POPs in one of my posts.
Now I'd like to tell you about one of my favorite public indoor spaces and about the man well known to every newyorker.
Donald Trump is American business magnate, television personality, author and actor. He has an estimated net worth of $3.9 billion according to Forbes as of 2014.
His father Fred C. Trump was one of the last of New York City's major postwar builders. Fred Trump built more than 27,000 apartments in the neighborhoods of Coney Island, Bensonhurst, Sheepshead Bay and Brighton beach in Brooklyn.
My mom and dad live in Shore Haven Apartments in Bensonhurst that Fred Trump built in 1949. My daughter's mother-in-law lives in Trump village near Brighton beach, built by Fred Trump in 1963.
In the mid-70's, Mr. Trump lent support -- and a small amount of money -- to his son Donald's aspirations of becoming a developer . Recently, Donald Trump said he was happy his father stuck to Brooklyn and Queens. ''It was good for me,'' the developer said, chuckling. ''You know, being the son of somebody, it could have been competition to me. This way, I got Manhattan all to myself!'' And Donald really have Manhattan- the buildings that have the word 'trump' in their name could be seen all over New York: on Fifth Avenue and near United Nations, near Columbus circle and in downtown.
Donald began his career at his father's company, building houses in Queens. In 1971, Trump moved to Manhattan. In 1979 Trump purchased the existing eleven-story property on the corner of Fifth Avenue and East 56 street with the goal of constructing the first super-luxury high rise property in New York to include high–end retail shops, office space and residential condominiums. The building was finished in 1983. There are 68 floors in this mixed-use skyscraper. A concrete hat-truss at the top of the building ties exterior columns with the concrete core, increasing resistance against lateral forces such as wind and minor earthquakes. At the time of completion the Trump Tower was the tallest such building in the world. The residential condominiums comprise floors 30 through 68, with office, retail and fine dining space below.
The building is best known for its lavish atrium, which reaches six stories high. There is an illuminated cascading waterfall, which sits directly across from the entrance. The walls are covered with pink marble and the widespread use of brass and mirrors is apparent as soon as one enters the lobby area. The atrium is a vertical shopping center, in which visitors are guided along escalators and walkways which lead to balconies that open up to specialty shops.
The Atrium has played host to many prestigious events including Luciano Pavarotti, Miss USA and The First Minister of Scotland . When there are no any parties the access to the atrium is free to everybody from 8am to 10pm.
There are two outdoor landscaped terraces on upper floors that are very beautiful in summer. To get there you have to take one of the elevators off the Fifth Avenue entrance. The fourth floor terrace is a petite garden space with trees, planters and comfortable polished granite ledge seating . The recently renovated and more ambitious landscaped terrace on the north side of the fifth floor is currently less used.
There is a Trump grill that works from 11:30AM to 4PM, cafe (8AM – 5PM) and Starbucks ( 8am-8pm) in the atrium. Starbucks is on a small 2nd-floor bridge the overlooks the entranceway and it is really pretty. There is a restroom on the second floor , and there is a passageway that connects the Trump covered pedestrian space to the indoor spaces at 590 Madison Avenue. I plan to write about the space on Madison in one of my next posts.
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