FRIENDS' Testimony:

The streamlined white brick modernism of 785 Fifth Avenue is enlivened by the ziggurat-like setbacks at its upper floors. The openness of these setbacks is a key design feature and the detrimental effects of terrace enclosures can be viewed in two instances on the East 60th Street façade, both of which were installed before the designation of the Upper East Side Historic District. The Preservation Committee at FRIENDS found fault in using these pre-designation terrace enclosures as precedents for a new enclosure, which would continue a trend of inappropriate alterations to this building. We ask the Commission to deny this application.