WII-11 Flat Iron Building
Posted by: Wayfarer II
N 40° 44.482 W 073° 59.371
18T E 585315 N 4510538
Considered the oldest remaining skyscraper in New York, the Flatiron Building is 285 feet tall.
Waymark Code: WM2JC
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 10/12/2005
Views: 183
The Flatiron's most interesting feature
is its shape -- a slender hull plowing up the streets of commerce as the bow off
a great ocean liner plows through the waves of its domain. The apex of the
building is just six feet wide, and expands into a limestone wedge adorned with
Gothic and Renaissance details of Greek faces and terra cotta flowers. The
building has two claims to fame -- one architectural, the other cultural. Some
consider the Flatiron Building to be New York City's first skyscraper. It
certainly was one of the first buildings in the city to employ a steel frame to
hold up its 285-foot tall facade, but not the first. Some felt its shape (like a
flatiron) was less artistic and more dangerous. They thought it would fall over,
and during construction the Flatiron Building was nicknamed "Burnham's Folly."
The building's cultural legacy is a little more interesting and has passed into
the local social consciousness as a fable. It is said that the building created
unusual eddies in the wind which would cause women's skirts to fly around as
they walked on 23rd street. This attracted throngs of young men who gathered to
view the barelegged spectacle. Police would try to disperse these knots of
heavy-breathers by calling to them, "23 Skidoo." This phrase has passed out of
common usage, but its descendant, the word "scram" remains in a back corner of
the American lexicon.