Midtown: One Beacon Court

One Beacon Court is a horseshoe-shaped, low-rise component of the Bloomberg Tower at 731 Lexington Avenue. Standing in the court, you look up and get a dramatic view of glass and chrome sweeping almost all around you, with only the sky above. The technical term for the space is a conoid; think of a sloping ellipse, and you've got the idea. 

The Bloomberg complex takes up the entire block bounded by Lexington and Third Avenues and 58th and 59th Streets. As a nice touch for us pedestrians, there’s a though-block passage from 58th to 59th, as you can see here. 

The 54-story Bloomberg Tower houses the offices of Bloomberg L.P., the former mayor’s media holdings, on it’s lower floors, along with a number of high-end retail stores. The upper floors are super-high-end condominiums. 

The lucky residents of One Beacon Court can take a shopping trip to Bloomie’s just by coming down the elevator and hopping across 59th.

The entire complex was designed by Cesar Pelli & Associates, and was built between 2000 and 2005. Among the old building demolished for this project was the former Alexander's department store, where I, being to cheap to shop at Bloomingdale's, bought my pants, shirts, ties, and undies back in the late '70s.