LMGI COMPASS
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Spring 2023
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All photos by Les Fincher/LMGI
The best assignment for me has always been scouting
rooftops and skylines. Nothing sets the stage better
than the perfect rooftop for a fight scene, dance scene
or love story.
approaching 100 years old. Architectural chess pieces laid out on a skyline game
board. You are struck by the height and shape difference the last decade has
delivered. The Empire State Building is 1,250 feet and 1,454 feet to the tip. The World
Trade Center is 1,776 feet high, the tallest building in Manhattan.
Thin rocket ship-shaped buildings defy engineering logic and appear in random
places. The Central Park Tower at 1,550 feet, the highest residential building. The
nearby 111 W. 57 St., 1,428 feet, resembles a fancy silver ballpoint ink pen facing the
park. The recently completed One Vanderbilt mountaintop shape reaches 1,401 feet.
Once, for an "I Love New York" commercial, I suggested that we recreate the
famous Margaret Bourke-White photograph of her sitting on a Chrysler Building
gargoyle and holding a large-format Graflex camera. Academy Award-winning
cinematographer Gordon Willis and director Jeremiah Chechik loved the idea. We re-
View from 777 Third Ave.
