Submitted by Clem Labine, Oct 5, 2007 11:02

Although I disagree slightly with Mr. Morrone's generally approving comments about Richard Meier's "On The Park" apartment building as a piece of architecture, I agree 100% with Morrone's assessment that the building is in the WRONG place. In my opinion, even judged as a stand-alone piece of architecture, the Meier building is a clumsy and banal piece of modernism; aesthetically it ranks near the bottom of all of Meier's previous projects. Whether the building is good or bad modernism, however, there's little doubt that "On The Park" is a disaster in its current context. Visually, it is the proverbial "turd in the punch bowl." It destroys the classic harmony of Stanford White's urban vision. It would be much better, as Morrone points out, to have such a building in the Vanderbilt Yards development, instead of the grotesque Gehry towers that Bruce Ratner seems intent on foisting off on Brooklyn.

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