Williamsburg Savings Bank

User Review:

• For decades the tallest building on the East Coast outside Manhattan, this quasi-Byzantine tower has long reigned over Downtown Brooklyn. Anyone who has watched the New York Marathon (or run in it!) knows that the tower dominates 4th Avenue, the broad thoroughfare that guides runners north from the Verazzano Bridge and constitutes over 3 miles of the route. The observatory platform has been closed for decades, and the founding bank has disappeared in a wave of mergers. The magnificent banking hall -- featured in many movies and TV shows -- may soon re-open as a catering hall. The upper floors, long dominated by dentists and doctors, have been converted to luxury living lofts. The fascinating architectural details can be observed on your way to a performance at BAM; with luck, the first-floor interiors may be open to the public once again. Nearby landmarks include the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Long Island Rail Road Flatbush Avenue station, and the neighborhoods of Fort Greene, Boerum Hill, and Park Slope.
• The description was provided by Harry Matthews