5. 200 Water Street

The facade of 200 Water Street owes everything to its holdout neighbor. After Kaufman refused the asking price, they still needed to cover up the unsightly and much shorter holdout. Kaufman commissioned artist Rudolph De Karak to solve this. The three-story clock uses 72 individual squares to display the hour, minute and second. It’s eye-catching. It’s also a sly dig at dawdling workers, reminding them to get back to work.

Around the corner on Fulton street, the plaza contains brightly covered chairs, intended to reference Lewis Carroll:

And a pun on the building’s street address, a fish hangs from the ceiling while an image of a merman and mermaid adorn the side:

One of its’ most notable designs was Kaufman’s least lobby-like lobby. Visitors entered through a neon-blue tunnel with two giant toy soldiers standing on either side. Sadly these have since been removed. Pictures of the since-renovated lobby can be seen here. 

See 9 other holdout buildings that refused to move in the face of oncoming development.