Nowadays there’s a citywide contempt for new hi-rise/mixed-use/condo buildings, perhaps because so many of the existing ones remain half-occupied.  Nonetheless I’m thrilled about Frank Gehry’s new tower under construction at Beekman Place.  It won’t replace the still-startling absence of the Twin Towers, but it will bring a much-needed super-tall figure to the landscape south of Canal Street.

When seen from the Manhattan entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge the structure, clad in crenelated metal panels, is a singular, majestic presence.  And when seen from Brooklyn, beside an array of Wall Street towers, it’s the loveliest of them all.