Flatiron District
Flatiron District is a neighborhood in Manhattan that has gone through many changes over time. Recently, it was touted for its populous community of computer scientists and tech startups. It was called “Silicon Alley” to advertise this populous community to developers in California. Silicon Alley begins at the Flatiron District and goes down to Fourteenth Street.
There was a period in time, however, where this building was merely an outlier of a more impoverished neighborhood, until 2003 when a refurbishment was established.during this period, the tech scene spread throughout the city as startups appeared in Brooklyn and Midtown.
The Flatiron Building is one of the most recognizable landmark buildings of New York City as it is shaped precisely as a right triangle. Its footprint is shaped this way because it is where two avenues meet and cross: Broadway and Fifth Avenue, at Twenty-Third Street. It was never the tallest building in New York City, but it had a height that was impressive enough that in 1905 it had a rooftop restaurant that was famous for its views.
Today the building is not easy to live or work in, apparently, because the iconic status means the rent is high, and the landmark status means few upgrades can be made, so the single-pane windows leave tenants hot in the summer and cold in the winter.The Flatiron District includes Madison Square Park which has recently been renovated and is part of the draw that this area now has for computer science because it is six acres, and just completed a five million dollar renovation. It is now an area for lunch picnics and sculpture installations, and beautiful trees and gardens. Many events are held here, such as a BBQ festival.
The Met Life Building is also in the Flatiron District and also has a lot of history. It was built in 1909 and was the tallest building in New York City until the Woolworth Building was finished in 1913.
With the increase of tech companies in the area, the Flatiron District began to gentrify and is now a much different place than the rundown area it once was. Expensive fashion stores have moved in and many high quality restaurants. Publishers have also moved into the neighborhood. The tech world has spread outside the Flatiron District but is still a main factor in its makeup. For most people the Flatiron building will always be a favorite place in New York City because of the dramatic ways that the two huge roads come together there, and, of course, because of the unusual triangular shape. So much of New York is square or rectangular, that any other shape draws a kind of passion. Also, famous photographers have taken dramatic pictures of the building and the intersection of Broadway and Fifth Avenue.
The Flatiron building was designed by architect Daniel H. Burnham and Company and is praised not only for its interesting and beautiful shape but also for its materials, which include limestone and terra cotta with ornaments.
https://www.builtinnyc.com/2015/10/12/where-exactly-or-was-silicon-alley
https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/new-york/new-york-city/articles/the-history-of-new-yorks-silicon-alley/
https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/12/fashion/sundaystyles/alive-and-well-in-silicon-alley.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/30/nyregion/100-year-view-landmark-brushing-sky-other-buildings-rise-higher-but-flatiron.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradthomas/2021/09/11/silicon-alley-provides-path-to-prosperity-for-new-york-city/?sh=40f28cc05465