Should 60 Wall Street Stay Weird?

Plus! A classic New York bagel sandwich gets more delicious!!

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to Issue #98 of CAFÉ ANNE!

Not much news today, but huge NYC-Rats-in-Santa-Hats shoutouts to everyone who took me up on the holiday subscription discount offered to free subscribers in a separate note last week. Yes, I’m looking at you Maria V., Audrey W., Nick Z., Mark M., Antioch, Diane E., Melanie L., Rgard, Mac B., Sean B., Marina H., Appleton K., Aaron B., Sean W., Peter Nut Truck, Melissa H., Grace F., Jill, Brianne A., KinneyKat, Mike S., Amy K., Debbie B., Laziest, Nancy G., Katie N., DH., Erica S., Claire A., Valerie A., Saleh A., Alison M., Dianne S. and James G.

Zowie! That’s enough $$$ to buy rodent Santa hats for all 210 of my little rat friends. And I’m also a little closer to breaking even on this newsletter. Which shall always remain paywall-free, of course!

If you haven’t yet taken advantage, I’m still offering the holiday discount. Until Friday, a $50 annual subscription to CAFÉ ANNE is just $35! How often do you get a big discount on something you're already enjoying for free?

I’m very excited for this week’s issue, of course. We’ve got a look at one of NYC’s weirdest public hangouts. We’ve also got—sorry not sorry!—more crazy AI art. Please enjoy.

Regards!

Anne

FEATURE

Should 60 Wall Street Stay Weird?

The weird public atrium at 60 Wall Street

You know how deflating it is when you love a particularly quirky band or writer, and you think your appreciation somehow makes you special, and then you realize the entire world agrees with your assessment? Dang!

I sometimes feel that way when it comes to my favorite sites around New York City. I think I’m unique in my affection for some strange spot, only to discover it’s widely beloved. The most recent example: the weird public atrium at 60 Wall Street.

This atrium is one of several spots I hit when I want to interview strangers for stories. The block-wide arcade was created in 1989 in a deal that allowed the developer to build a taller tower—serving as the new headquarters for JPMorgan—in exchange for providing a public space.

According to the agreement, the climate-controlled indoor atrium must be open to the public from 7 am to 9:30 pm daily and provide plantings, public restrooms and "at least 104 movable chairs and 26 movable tables."

But that's not what makes this place unusual. There are, in fact, nearly 600 of these so-called "privately-owned public spaces" (POPS) in New York City.

No, what makes this place weird is the architecture, which might best be described as "Mediterranean Waffle Maker." The space features a lattice ceiling plated with mirrors, terrifying abstract sculpture and palm trees galore. The horrendous lighting makes anyone brave enough to venture inside appear gravely ill. If the city has a bardo, this is it.

When the atrium first opened, it was widely panned. New York Times architecture critic Paul Goldberger said it looked like "the center of a shopping mall without the stores." The Village Voice said it "has the homey feel of a town hall-bus station hybrid."

But what a difference a few decades make. This fall, when building owner Paramount Group revealed plans to completely remodel the atrium, people went crazy.

In an interview with the Times, New York Review of Architecture editor Samuel Medina called the space “oddly compelling,” and “falling just on the right side of tacky." Curbed dubbed it "everyone’s favorite over-the-top postmodern atrium." Even Mr. Goldberger had changed his tune. "It is a rare and special Post Modern public space," he wrote in a letter to the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. "The loss of Kevin Roche’s imaginative design diminishes the City."

And how about the proposed new design, with its contemporary lines, skylights, tan marble, recessed lighting and 100-foot indoor plant wall? Thumbs down!

"It's bland, it’s leafy, and it reeks of money," said Mr. Medina. “The plan is to Apple-Storeify it into plain white submission,” griped Curbed.

All this got me thinking. While folks like me and Mr. Medina might delight in the current atrium’s quirkiness, what did the people who actually hang out there—the delivery guys, the clerks on their lunch break, the homeless people—have to say?  And what do they think of the new design?

As far as I could tell, no one had asked!

The proposed new design for the 60 Wall Street atrium: not weird!

Last week, I printed renderings of the proposed atrium and took them to 60 Wall Street to show the regulars.

The scene that afternoon was typical. Delivery guys clustered around tables scarfing chicken and rice from foil pans, a few office workers tapped away at their laptops, homeless men sat propped against the pillars, snoozing in their heavy winter coats. The atmosphere was peaceful.

I approached a table of men sipping coffee. They told me they were all bicycle delivery workers for DoorDash and Uber Eats who ferry meals to Financial District office workers. The friends meet at the atrium several times a week to chat and hang out.

From left: atrium regulars Robert, Salvatore and Juan, plus Danny (seated).

I asked what they think of the current atrium. "It's really cool, we like it," said Danny, the most outspoken of the group. "The first time I came here, I saw these palms! I worked in Acapulco a little. To see that while drinking my coffee brings me back there."

"Did you know they are going to redo the whole atrium?" I asked. "Can I show you an illustration of what it's supposed to look like?"

I handed the rendering to Danny and they crowded around.

"Wow!" said Danny. "It's amazing! Wow! So nice!"

His friends smiled and nodded in agreement.

"So you like it?" I said.

"Of course, of course we do," said Danny. "This is beautiful!”

"Some people are mad," I said. "They like it the way it is now because it's weird."

The friends conferred in Spanish.

"Well, to be honest, 100 percent I love the picture," Danny said finally. "And my friends, they have the same thoughts. We'd be very happy if we could have something like this here."

Score one for bland!

I next spoke to Emmanuel, a street security patrolman on lunch break. I asked what he thought of the current atrium.

"It's my favorite spot," he said. "Most of the time, it's quiet. In cold weather, you can take a break. You can come inside. There's chairs, tables—you can sit anywhere you want!"

"Most places are not that special inside," he added. "This architecture is very nice. When you look up, the ceiling looks like a museum."

"They're going to remodel the whole thing," I told him.

"Really? Wow," he said. "Even the ceiling? What?"

I showed him the rendering of the proposed design. I was certain he would hate it.

 "Ooooh yes!" he said. "Oh wow. Beautiful!”

I showed him the second rendering, with the 100-foot plant wall.

"Even nicer!" he said. "Wow! Wow! Wow!"

And so it continued. Everyone I spoke to preferred the new design.

"It's cool,"said Mark, an Amazon delivery man. "It looks like a fancy office building, something like that."

"Where would you rather hang out?"

"This," said Mark, referring to the rendering. "Seems more corporate!"

Folks had ideas for further improvements, of course. When I asked Mark to describe his ideal atrium hangout, he did not hesitate: "Something like that, but with a big screen TV!"

Others suggested the atrium should have vending machines, wi-fi, a deli, a café, a water fountain and a bike storage room.

Several regulars, in fact, recalled a time when the atrium had more amenities. While the hall’s retail spaces are currently vacant, they used to house a newsstand, a shoe repair spot and a Starbucks.

Kent remembers a livelier 60 Wall Street

Kent, a retiree who’s been hanging out at 60 Wall Street off and on for more than a decade ("I was homeless, no one will bother you here"), remembers when the Starbucks baristas, in violation of corporate policy, brought leftover baked goods out to feed the atrium regulars every night at closing time. It has since shut down.

But as I discovered, there is still a thriving little underground community centered around the atrium.

Several atrium regulars suggested I speak to Bob, another older man who has been on the scene for more than a decade. I found him sitting at a table in the back with a big pizza box, accompanied by a silent sidekick.

I asked Bob how he likes the current atrium.

"It's like a sanctuary," he said. "People can gather here and socialize with each other. You have homeless people, you have people here from other countries, and you have your Wall Streeters who come here to work on their computer. The security people who work here are very nice. They look out for us!”

"Unfortunately, I'm temporarily homeless," he continued. "Let me show you something."

He dug a three-ring binder out of the suitcase parked by his chair.

"I'm in entertainment," he said, flipping through magazine clippings and photos. "This is me in New York Magazine."

There was a photo of a much younger Bob with his band, Acappella Soul.

"And this is me in the movie ‘American Gangster,’” he said. “And this is Uma Thurman. You know Uma?"

I do, though not personally.

Bob closed the binder. "It's cold outside," he said. "And now it's cold in here! It used to be warm. Now they're getting ready to tear this place down."

So he knew about the remodeling plan!

"Sure," he said. "I dunno when they're going to do it, but they already turned the heat off. It's bad. You have the kids coming here from the hotel around the corner."

Many migrants from Colombia and Ecuador are housed by the city at the nearby Radisson, and the moms take their kids to the atrium every day to play after school. Bob knows the families. Bob knows everyone.

He sleeps on the street, he said, as he dislikes the shelter system, but he and his sidekick sit at their table all day long doling out advice to fellow homeless persons to help them navigate the system and get city ID cards.

"We're knowledgeable as far as different organizations and things like that," he said.

He also collects money from area office workers who come by his table with donations.

"People come in here and they donate and we go around and feed everybody," said Bob. "And we have restaurants that donate food to us. We go pick it up. We're like a big family."

I asked Bob if he’d seen the renderings of the new atrium. He had not, and was curious to see the drawings.

When I pulled them from my bag, he set them on the table and photographed them with his phone so he could show the others.

"What do you think?" I asked.

"It's fabulous! It looks beautiful," he said. "It's an improvement. But it also shows me they're going to exclude the homeless. That's what it looks like. That's what I see. This doesn't include us!”

I took a closer look. Come to think of it, the renderings didn’t seem to feature any homeless people.

Bob had questions: How much would the renovation cost? Couldn't that money be spent to house people instead? And when would it start? "It'd be nice if they started in the spring so this place is open through in the winter,” he said.

He also had some suggestions: "We could use a microwave. The church gives us cold food. And a performance space. I'd volunteer to put on shows!"

I loved the idea of Bob performing in the shiny new atrium, so when I got home, I emailed Paramount Group to ask when the project would start, and whether the new space would welcome homeless persons, and if they might provide a TV, a stage and microwave oven. I have yet to hear back.

But I know one thing for sure: it’s time to say goodbye to the old 60 Wall Street. Bring on the bland! The new design is what the people want. And I’m sure that in another 30 years, the rest of us will all be in love with the new atrium, and complaining when the owner rips it down.

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TECHNOLOGY CORNER

In Which a Classic NYC Bagel Sandwich Gets More Delicious

It’s true—I promised at least one reader last week that I’d stop messing around with AI and writing about the strangeness of AI-generated images. But when I came across an Instagram post by CAFÉ ANNE friend Sam Silverman last week, I knew I’d have to break my vow.

As you may recall, Mr. Silverman is NYC’s unofficial Bagel Ambassador. He gives walking tours of the city’s best bagel shops and also organizes its annual BagelFest. Earlier this year, I ran a Q&A with Mr. Silverman about his fantastic NYC Bagel Diet.

In his post, Mr. Silverman wrote about how he asked ChatGPT’s image creator to produce a picture of “a classic New York bagel sandwich.” Here is the result:

WTF!?! Is that cottage cheese on the bottom? “I'll give ChatGPT the benefit of the doubt and call it whitefish salad,” Mr. Silverman told me.

But that wasn’t the end. Our hero next asked ChatGPT to take the original sandwich image and make it “more delicious.” And then he asked again. And again. And again. And each time, it got more and more delicious.

I hope you enjoy the results as much as I did!

CAFÉ ANNE is a free weekly newsletter created by Brooklyn journalist Anne Kadet. Subscribe to get the latest issue every Monday!