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Question: Building located on 22nd street and takes up a triangle block between Broadway and 5th. (directly behind the Flatiron Building) Was a hotel and Lincoln considered it his favorite hotel. Has original facade. Can you tell me more about it? (Erik Framton)

Question: The building I'm interested in is located on the Southwest corner of Third Ave and Third Street. It's a gritty industrial area near the Gowanus but this building on the corner is beautiful with the name Pippen on it. Was it connected with the heyday of the canal? (Guy Padula)

Question: What's the story with the building on the SW corner of Broome and Bway? It's so massive but thin, and its so beautifully sculpted.(Rob Stupay)

Question It's not a famous landmark, but owing to its name (proudly displayed in a mosaic at the front entrance) and its interesting Italianate architecture, I have always wondered about The MacIntyre building on Broadway above Union Square.(Steve MacIntyre)

Question I have been trying to figure out what exactly is the purpose of the giant metal shutters on the back windows of many Manhattan buildings (e.g. the Puck building). Were they storm shutters? Then why only on the back? For security? Then why on the upper floors? For noise? Did people worry about noise in the late 19th century, which is when this adornment was most popular (by my amateur estimation)? (Chris Feldmann)

Question There is a wonderful, large apartment building at 57th street and 9th avenue, south west corner, called the Windemere. It has had scaffolding up for years. What is its history? There is lovely, subtle detailing in the brick work. I have been told that it was sited there to take advantage of the Ninth Avenue El. (Renee Stanley)

Question I'd like to know more about a building that sits almost directly under the 59th St. Bridge on the Queens side of the river. It's a lovely brick building with turrets and a terra cotta roof that stands by itself on an overgrown plot in between a park and a factory. I moved to NYC in 1994 and at least since then it has been unoccupied and boarded up, though recently work permits have gone up around it and some of the boards have been removed to reveal a plaque stating the year of construction in the late 1800's. I called the community board for information and a most unhelpful woman told me that it is owned by Citigroup, but that's all she would or could reveal. I'd love to know the original purpose, why it has been unoccupied for so long, and if there are plans to restore it. (Molly Wessel)

Question What is the story behind the building sitting on the south end of Roosevelt Island. I always look for it while driving down the FDR drive. It is sometimes lit up at night, and is one of my favorite buildings in the city. Can people visit it? Why do they light it up? When/why was it built. (Cassie Barasch)

Question I have a copy of Rider's New York from 1916 which talks about the Emmet Building at the S. E.corner of Madison and 29 St. Rider's notes that the building is unique in having the owner's residence on the top floor. There is a structure on the top of the building, which has to be viewed from across Madison and up 29 St. I want to know if that's the residence Rider's refers to, and what that space is like now. (Donald B Johnson)