Tiffany's Old Home is Trashed for Scrap

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It's been a couple of months since we last visited Brack Capital's 15 Union Square West, the 130+ year-old former home of Tiffany & Co. which is now under wraps as it undergoes a complete rehab from commercial to residential. In September, a tipster noted that both the NYC Noise Patrol and Building Inspectors could have cared less about either the noise or night-time work crews. Now, we can add another bunch to that list: the folks in charge of preserving NYC's historic past.

A couple of cast iron columns await their fate.

Someone might ask what is it about this old heap of cast iron on the edge of Union Square that should merit either care or preservation? It turns out that there was some hidden beauty tucked away under all that black netting. Now, it's too late, because last week some beautifully detailed cast iron columns were being ripped from the interior of the building. A crane lowered the columns and then dumped them on the street. When asked if some lucky salvage company had a contract for all that historic iron a workman on site said, "Nope. It goes straight to scrap." The protective border of the Ladies' Mile Historic District ends just a few feet to the west. Progress takes no prisoners.

15 Union Square West lies just outside the Ladies' Mile Historic District.

A workman with crowbar in hand faces down a column.

Some elbow grease will wrest the column from where it has stood for over 130 years.

· Tiffany's Jewel Buffed Down to Inner Beauty [Curbed]
· CurbedWire: Union Square Tiffany Standard [Curbed]

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