I’ve been seeing these top-hatted graffiti figures around. It is tagged ‘Almost Famous.’

I saw the biker swooping around from my right, I snapped to get him in the foreground, and add scale and action to an otherwise boring shot.

“Squatters moved in in 1980 and found a very leaky roof. They therefore needed umbrellas inside, giving birth to the building’s title. Before long, though, they had renovated the entire 1899 Old Law Tenement. During July 4th weekend of 1995, a city-ordered siege occurred during which police in riot gear came into Loisaida and evicted and arrested squatters. The Umbrella House was among the buildings raided. Those evicted countered in court claiming that they were lawfully living in these abandoned buildings under adverse possession, a law that says if someone has been living openly in a building for more than ten years he or she owns it. The judge agreed and the squatters were allowed to remain.” gvshp.org/blog/2011/06/14/umbrella-umbrella/

I’ve been calling it the Beekman Tower because I think any building that juts into your local sky, you get to name. But it is officially 8 Spruce Street.  Other amenity include a swimming pool on the 50th floor. I’m being snarky, but it is a beautiful building, sculptural, sleek and definitely not boring. It has the feel of the science fiction future of the Zeppelin moment a few years back. People are living there already. Seventy six stories, they must have a spectacular view. Shot from my six story tenement roof.
Frank Gehry: Dizzy heights
“It’s Frank Gehry’s first skyscraper – a twisting, rippling tower that is transforming the New York skyline. Jonathan Glancey talks to the 82-year-old architect about realising a lifelong ambition.”

Usually you don’t see a flag on top of a steel structure until the steel has reached its complete height.

Where the added red lines meet is where the roof of the building will be. “The roof (including a 33 ft 4 in (10.16 m) parapet) of the top floor of One World Trade Center will be 1,368 feet (417 m), the same as the original One World Trade Center. With its spire height, One World Trade Center will stand at 1,776 feet (541 m),[33] a figure symbolic of the year of the United States Declaration of Independence.” One World Trade Center – Wikipedia

Jake Dobkin of the Gothamist has some great shots of the site from up high.

Viewed from the northwest.