The Emmet Building

95 Madison Avenue
Barney & Colt, 1911

Like Madison Square Park, Madison Avenue was named after James Madison, the fourth President of the United States. The Avenue begins at 23rd Street and extends to the Madison Avenue Bridge at 138th Street. When the Manhattan street grid was mandated in 1811, there was no avenue between Fourth (now Park) and Fifth Avenues. Madison Avenue was carved out in the 1840s due to the wide distance between Fourth and Fifth Avenues and in order to create more building lots with avenue frontage. This southern section of Madison Avenue is characterized by its fine assortment of large-scale hotels, lofts and office buildings.

The Emmet Building was constructed for Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet, a prominent physician and advocate for Irish independence. He commissioned the 15-story office building on this site, where the home he lived in for more than 40 years had been situated. Like number 105, this striking Renaissance Revival style building is also clad in terra-cotta and features elaborate Gothic Revival ornament.

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