A grand avenue like Fifth should be adorned with lovely, stately street clocks, right?
New York business owners whose shops were located on this pricey stretch of real estate seemed to think so. These towering timepieces (which also functioned as advertising vehicles) sprouted up in the late 19th century until about 1920, when watches became more popular.
Several extant timepieces keep us informed to this day—like this beauty. It’s stood on 59th Street in front of the Sherry Netherland since the hotel opened in 1927.
At 57th Street is the clock that tops Tiffany & Co. The nine-foot figure of Atlas was carved in 1853 and first adorned Tiffany’s when the jeweler had its store on Prince Street and Broadway.
This 20-foot, cast-iron sentinel at 44th Street was built in 1907. It originally stood at 43rd Street, but when the bank it fronted moved up a block, so did the clock.
One of the most beautiful of the city’s street clocks is the “gilded cast-iron masterpiece,” as the Landmarks Preservation Commission called it, at 200 Fifth Avenue.
The 19-footer dates to 1909—when the Madison Square neighborhood was very posh, and the Fifth Avenue Building it stood outside was so well-known, it shared a postcard with the Flatiron Building across the way.
Tags: 200 Fifth Avenue clock, 44th Street clock, Atlas clock Tiffany, Fifth Avenue clocks, Landmark clocks of New York City, New York street, Sherry Netherland clock, street clocks New York City, Tiffany clock
April 26, 2012 at 4:10 am |
Those clocks are lovely. I hope they always stand.
April 26, 2012 at 9:15 am |
I always met a date on 23rd St & 5th Ave right by the clock. Thanks for reminding me, it would look bad if I kept her waiting 😉
April 26, 2012 at 2:16 pm |
Well, now you can slip into Eataly and grab a $7 espresso while you wait!
April 26, 2012 at 4:47 pm |
I wonder if there’s any money in clock repair. It would seem to me to be a dying craft. But someone has to keep these beautiful clocks, as well as the ones on office buildings (Metropolitan Life, Con Ed, etc.), running.
April 26, 2012 at 7:31 pm |
the clock on 3rd between 84th and 85th was repaired about a dozen years ago at the cost of $20,000, by a company in utah.
why go to utah?! i think there’s an opportunity here …
http://www.friends-ues.org/2011/01/friends-make-the-yorkville-clock-tick/
April 26, 2012 at 8:49 pm
Electric TIme of Medfield, Massachusetts specializes manufacturing and restoration of tower and street clocks.
Links to some recent restoration project 200 Fifth Avenue Clock & Steinway Street – Queens New York City
April 26, 2012 at 4:59 pm |
I was shocked they all worked and told the correct time. So someone must be taking care of them.
April 26, 2012 at 5:28 pm |
Years ago I saw them adjusting the clock on 14th St, it took them days but it had been out for years. It worked beautifully after that.
April 26, 2012 at 6:09 pm |
These beautiful clocks and the few bishops crook street lanterns left remind us of earlier times and I hope we do what we can to keep them.
April 26, 2012 at 8:16 pm |
There are some beauties downtown too, and I think most of them still work as well. It makes me happy when I see street clocks that are well cared for.
April 26, 2012 at 8:42 pm |
Electric Time Company of Medfield Massachusetts just restored the clock at 200 fifth avenue. Please feel free to use our photographs of the clock at Street Clock Restoration Just provide a link to our website at http://www.electrictime.com/post_clocks/
Thanks.
August 27, 2012 at 3:20 am |
[…] York has lots of lovely street clocks—like these beauties along Fifth Avenue. Like this:LikeBe the first to like […]
August 30, 2012 at 9:11 am |
Stunning. Wish we had more of these all over the city…
October 6, 2012 at 7:41 pm |
[…] Clock, located at 200 Fifth Avenue near 23rd Street at Madison Square Park is 19 feet high, one of several beautiful clocks you can find along the way. When it was first built in 1909, it had to be wound every eight days […]
February 2, 2014 at 9:19 pm |
That first clock is in the ending credits of The Odd Couple! I was looking for where that clock was and came across this page. 🙂
June 25, 2015 at 2:35 am |
[…] The beautiful street clocks along Fifth Avenue In “Flatiron District” […]
March 26, 2018 at 6:37 am |
[…] And of course, no avenue in the city has more street clock loveliness than Fifth Avenue. […]