tom moody

zaftig taylor swift clone gets The Treatment
which is worse, the ad or the defacement

AKA "asshole architecture" AKA "the architecture of greed." You got air rights, you gotta use 'em.
This building artlessly shoving up against an existing building recalls a similar striver, in human space:

piece of resistance

The pristine integrity of the building's concrete expanse has been marred by this sign announcing... red label something. It's almost as if the owners of the structure don't respect the architects or their vision of functional materialism.

odd city tree, part 1 (the tree)

First-time visitors to NYC sometimes ask the astute question, "Who's Duane Reade?" These pharmacies can be found on every corner and even wedged into Brutalist buildings.
There was never a good answer but it's moot since Walgreens bought the chain. Shortly after that happened (but not before), slick signs appeared in every Duane Reade plugging the chain as a "New York institution." (Walgreens is based in Chicago.)

Update: By word of mouth I learned that the company that became Duane Reade was founded near, and took its name from, a block bounded by Duane and Reade streets in what is now Tribeca.