F YOU’RE STANDING AT 5 MADISON AVE staring straight up, it’s easy to see why New York City is the place to dream big. When it was built in 1909 as the Metropolitan Life Building, 5 Madison Ave eclipsed the city’s skyline as the tallest building and the highest timepiece in the world—a glory that lasted four years until the Woolworth Building wiggled its way upwards with seven more floors. Architect Napoleon LeBrun looked to Venice, Italy when envisioning this striking piece of Renaissance revival architecture, taking cues from the iconic Campanile building. And just like the Campanile is capped with gold, 5 Madison Ave has a gilded cupola at its top: an “eternal light” that stays illuminated even when the building’s other lights have gone to sleep for the night.
Unlike its Italian counterpart, however, the landmarked tower watches over mid-
Manhattan with a timepiece so extraordinary that novels have been written about it. e four-sided clock’s faces are a whopping 26.5 feet in diameter, and each of its numbers are an impressive four feet high.
Unusual for NYC, the skyscraper has only changed owners three times in its long life. As the new home to the New York EDITION Hotel, it’s as brilliant as ever with 273 guest rooms and a “gold bar” (where you’ll find us). It’s buildings like this that make New York City grand, and—just like LeBrun did—remind us to dream big.
To fully fathom Jenné Lombardo’s impact on the fashion industry, we’d have to dedicate this entire publication to her resume. As founder of MADE Fashion Week and the branding firm The Terminal Presents, she works with everyone from Playboy to the New York EDITION as events specialist. She’s also a mother of three, a workout fanatic, and habitually dressed to kill.
1 → Best people-watching spot:
In front of my house on Lafayette between Spring and Kenmare.
2 → Favorite NYC slang or saying:
Ha ha – these change by the day.
3 → Best time of day:
7 am and midnight.
4 → Brooklyn or Manhattan:
Both.
5 → Best thing about NYC:
The people. The energy. The access.
6 → Best thing about leaving NYC:
Getting to come back.
7 → What does NYC need more of:
Affordable living for the creative class.
8 → Less of:
Selfie Sticks.
9 → Best place to bring the kids:
LES Skatepark.
10 → Favorite NYC spa:
Spazio on Mott St. and the Russian baths on Wall St.
11 → Deli coffee or anything but:
Anything but. I am not laid back when it comes to good coffee.
12 → Favorite NYC food:
Sant Ambroeus on Lafayette, The Smile, Takahachi, Lovely Day…any place within walking distance.
13 → Best place to workout:
NW STUDIO with Nicole Winhoffer.
14 → Favorite fashion week activity:
Finishing!
15 → Favorite NYC-centric website:
Hypebeast and Complex.
16 → Train, cab, Uber, or other:
All except for train.
17 → NYC vice:
Uber, Nails, 24-hour delivery, puppy watching, and riding my bike.
18 → Favorite NYC legend:
Lyor Cohen. A legend in every way.
19 → Best outside-of- the-city escape:
Upstate and Montauk.
20 → Favorite DJ:
Just one? Jesse Marco,Venus X,Chelsea Leyland,Virgil Abloh,Chances with Wolves.