I always liked the song “I’ve Been Everywhere”; its most famous versions are by Johnny Cash and Hank Snow. More than 131 versions exist adapted from the Australian original with lyrics adapted for the United States, New Zealand, the UK and Ireland, Canada, Finland, Germany and many other locations. I have always wanted to have a version written for me, with NYC neighborhoods, because I’ve been in all of them. In the same vein, I have worked all over town in over two dozen jobs in three boroughs. In 2014, I wrote a page about many of my workplaces, which I really should update, as I have worked in several places since. Right now, I work for a popular reference textbook with offices in Uniondale, but I have never been in the building, working from home the whole time! Here’s one of my favorites over the last few years, at #200 5th Avenue at 23rd Street.
I don’t own a single item of jewelry (my high school ring and father’s wedding ring have disappeared, unfortunately), but did work for several months as a freelance proofreader/copy editor (and making several brilliant saves) at the world’s biggest jeweler, working on their website which is published in several different languages, all of which, it seems, have different ways of punctuation and different copyright marks, etc. which I was brought in to check, as well as their customer emails, which also differ by country.
Tiffany’s flagship store is uptown on 5th Avenue and 57th Street, but their main offices relocated in 2011 to 200 5th Avenue, originally the Fifth Avenue Building when built in 1912 (its original clock still stands). The building, formerly the International Toy Center, had been home to offices in that industry; it is now occupied by Tiffany and the Grey Group (formerly Grey Advertising). Eataly, the famed aggregation of Italian restaurants, occupies the ground floor along with an ever-shifting array of retail establishments. I was likely the only Tiffany employee who regularly had lunch at Chelsea Papaya, a hot dog and papaya juice joint at 7th Avenue and West 23rd.
Walking the floor at Tiffany, I noticed several of the steel columns bearing the name Carnegie. Two titans of capitalism right there, Louis Comfort Tiffany and Andrew Carnegie.
Happy Labor Day!
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9/2/23
11 comments
There should be a breakfast spot in the Tiffany’s building.
An expensive cafe has opened at Tiffany’s. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Nobody wears their h. school ring anyway
There was a rumor that class rings from Virginia Military Institute were so large and heavy some states considered them brass knuckles.
As far as I know this was never proved nor disproved.
When I was production manager on the trade magazine TOY & HOBBY WORLD in 1973-75 this building was the epicenter of the toy world, hosting the annual Toy Fair which bought tens of thousands of retailers to the city every February.
If memory serves me, 200 Fifth Avenue served as the “New York Globe” newspaper building in 1957’s “Sweet Smell of Success” with Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis.
In the early 60’s, Squire’s Coffee shop occupied the space where Eatly is now. My dad was a manager there. I had some wild Christmas
mornings.
Worked there for a year with the building’s management. The Toy Fair was an amazing event that saw the building’s population increase probably by 1000%. Showrooms were rarely open through the year, but the annual Toy Fair brought wall to wall people. We had to revert to uniformed staff operating the automatic elevators to keep the hordes moving. It was an amazing thing to see!
Is this page about “forgotten” spots, or just another personal blog masquerading as a newsletter?
What would you prefer me to write about? Please be specific.
There was a restaurant named Fils (French for sons) on 24th St just west of 200 5th Ave that catered to the toy people. When you entered there was a long wall of framed photos of toy execs with one portrait of Buddy Hackett in the middle. There was a Selma Diamond type waitress who you could order a baked apple for dessert from. Totally out of sync with the modern era.