Built in 1908-1909; designed by Holabird & Roche. Billed as the safest hotel west of Gotham, and I'm sure the brochures insisted it was fireproof, inasmuch as brick doesn't burn well.

It never looked like this. I mean human beings never saw it like this, with the prow jutting into the sky. It's a standard architectural perspective, as is the hapless milling traffic below.