Quote:
Originally Posted by CIA
I may have said it before but I'm not a fan of this building at all. We lost 495 hotel rooms in the pre-war Drake Hotel in exchange for 99 luxury condo units, the majority of which will sit empty most of the time because they're 2nd and 3rd homes for millionaires and billionaires.
I wish this was developed on an open or underutilized lot instead with the Drake selling its air rights to modernize. Where's landmarks when you needed them?
Am I the only one that sees it this way? To be honest, every time I see 432 Park rise in the skyline it pisses me off because it reminds me of what it replaced.
|
If I am not mistaken, the Drake was quite old and it lacked the brand cachet of hotels like the Pierre and the Plaza. I'm willing to bet it would have cost an absolute fortune to bring it up to par with its rivals and even then, it wouldn't have the single greatest asset those two have - a 60 foot walk to Central Park. 432 gets away with this because it trades proximity for spectacular views.
It's a shame the Drake was lost, especially when there are hundreds, if not thousands of architectural abortions that desperately need to be removed from the cityscape, but all in all, the direction this city has taken could be far, far worse.