The Finger Building may just be the most loathsome tower in the entire city. Designed by Robert Scarano, sitting smack in the middle of a low-rise block in a low-rise neighborhood, the long-suffering Williamsburg condo building has been called too many nasty names to recall (or appropriately repeat) in this space. Which is why it is so surprising to hear the Daily News sing its praises.
Granted the focus this time is on the interior—The Observer sauntered past the other day, and the khaki and tan exterior remains anything but attractive, even some of those cheap aluminum sidings would have looked better we imagine, or some of that fake black brick that is de riguer in the neighborhood.
Because of the building’s unique placement in the exact geographical center of the block, there is a distance of about 120 feet from the entrance on N. Eighth St. to the elevators. Curated, an interior design firm led by Elena Frampton in the Chelsea office and Delta Wright in Santa Monica, Calif., handled the entire interior redesign on the project. It was their finishes and fixtures that helped rewrite the building’s narrative from troubled condo to high-design wonder. The experience starts in the lobby.
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The 144 N. Eighth experience doesn’t end there. The elevators open up to dimly lit hallways with two-toned dark brown cork leading to black doors. Brass light fixtures give the hallways and lobby an old English feel enhanced by Curated’s edgy wall and floor textures. Inside the apartments, light floods in.
Says broker Rieders, “Ultimately, this building is about the views. Even from the fifth floor, you see the Manhattan skyline.”
The building was bought and rebuilt by the same firm behind the Ace Hotel, which isn’t much to look at, either, so it makes sense that so long as you are on the inside looking out, who cares how ugly the building is for the rest of us.
