This photograph, taken in May 1959 by Angelo Rizzuto, is titled “View of building construction” on the Library of Congress website. I’m not entirely convinced, although I have to admit that my doubts are based on squinting at the photo and nothing stronger.
First, even for a low-rise building, it’s a little bit odd that the entire frame is complete, including the permanent steel-framed stair, before any work on the floors has begun. Even the handrail on the stair is there. Not unheard-of, certainly, but odd.
Second, there’s the partially-disassembled brick wall in the foreground. If this was an entirely new building, that wall doesn’t really make sense. If that had been a party wall, then why isn’t it gone, since Mr. Rizzuto seems to have been standing in a vacant lot. It that wall was only part of the site with the steel frame, it should have been demolished before construction started. If it’s only on the neighboring lot, why is it there at all?
Third, and for me the most critical, the steel has the patchy staining I associate with metal that has been exposed after being embedded in masonry. It’s particularly visible in the two lines of columns further left, on the side near us, but also the spandrel beams near there, and to some degree on all the steel.
I think this was either a demolition view, and the brick wall is what’s left of the lot-line wall of the steel-frame building, or a close-to-demo renovation, with only the frame saved while the floors and facades were entirely replaced. But, it’s all a guess.
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