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For 77 years, the Subway Inn stood on the corner of East 60th Street and Lexington Avenue, a welcoming refuge for alcoholics, hipsters and other sundry commuters looking for a stiff belt before getting on the IRT. (And who could blame them?) This being New York, of course, local institutions don’t count for much, especially when valuable real estate is involved. And so it was that in August of 2014, the Subway Inn announced final call for the last time at its original location.
The good news is that Subway Inn reopened just a few blocks from its old home, complete with its famous neon sign refurbished for the occasion. The bad news is what will be rising at its former site: Another super tall tower. Proving yet again that today’s New York privileges billionaires over barflies, the proposed building will soar 1,240 feet, just ten feet shorter than the Empire State Building. In keeping with the vogue for pencil-thin skyscrapers, renderings depict a sharply tapering structure piercing the clouds. The design (actually the second one proposed for this location) is the handiwork of Archilier Architects, whose other notable New York project is a high-rise near the Hudson Yards. Once it’s built—assuming it is—the Subway Inn Tower (as we might as well call it) will be the tallest building on the Upper East Side.
