Photo Credit: Roving Rube. Viewpoint: 6th Ave. and 47th St., looking northwest; 1/26/02 11:44 AM.

Notes (Roving Rube): Known variously as the Pinstripe, XYZ , and Celanese, McGraw Hill and Exxon buildings, these are the centerpiece of the International Style row on Sixth Avenue from the mid-40's to 50's.

The facades of the Exxon and McGraw Hill are quite similar, just using different colored stone; the windows of the Celanese (leftmost) are shallower, resulting in some reflection of the sky (seen in the sunglare at center) -- the other two look particularly nice when the sun throws their pinstripes into sharp relief.

The tan stone cladding helps to unify them with the uniform cladding of the adjacent Rockefeller Center, to which they are considered a western extension.

Francis Morrone, in his Architectural Guidebook to NYC, describes this section of 6th Avenue as "the most overpowering and banal street in Manhattan, a frightening phalanx of monstrous towers rising sheer behind plazas".

On the other hand, so much of Manhattan ends up being such a complete jumble of conflicting styles and periods, it's nice that, for a change, on this stretch they had an idea and stuck with it.