History and architecture
The dignified B. Altman & Company Building, located at the northeast corner of 34th Street and Fifth Avenue, is a distinguished design by Trowbridge & Livingston and one of the flagship department stores of Fifth Avenue. When the new B. Altman store opened in 1906, Fifth Avenue was essentially a small-scale street filled with shops catering to the upper crust of New York society. The opening of B. Altman catalyzed Fifth Avenue's transformation into a grand boulevard lined with many large department stores serving a broad clientele. An Italian Renaissance palazzo type design, B. Altman is elegant but reserved, stately rather than flamboyant; it is a reminder that the building was designed to blend into a neighborhood it then helped to transform.
Sources and further reading
This history comes from the Landmarks app’s historical catalog. Names and building uses may reflect the period described.