53rd at Third / Lipstick Building
Joseph worked on the Lipstick Building while it was rising; two decades later Bernard Madoff's firm operated from the same tower, which is now being reused in large part by Memorial Sloan Kettering.
The Lipstick Building at 53rd Street and Third Avenue, photographed in 2007.
Current view · 2007 · Photo: Melanie Lazarow from Brunswick, Australia · CC BY 2.0 · Source
Why this project matters
- Project identity
- Verified
- Kelly connection
- Family source
- Masonry scope
- Strong
Rita’s list
Transcription: 53rd Street at Third Avenue — 1984
Recorded by Rita Bartscherer · Bartscherer family record
KM-172
2 of two
“53rd Street at Third Avenue — 1984”
Federal records place Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities at 885 Third Avenue. MSK later acquired about 415,000 square feet of the Lipstick Building for academic, research and administrative use.
One of the archive's richest three-act stories: exact-period construction photographs, a defining New York financial scandal, and a major medical institution's reuse of much of the same tower.
What Kelly did here
Family source
Strong
Likely CMU/block core, shafts, partitions and backup masonry. The visible exterior is red Imperial granite and stainless steel/glass, so do not describe Kelly as installing the signature red façade unless a subcontract proves stone/granite scope.
This scope is recorded as strong, not documented. It is a disciplined reading of the building and the trade practice of the period, not a contract-level record of Kelly’s work.
The construction team
- 01Architect
Johnson/Burgee Architects
- 02GC / construction manager
Hines / Sterling Equities → Johnson/Burgee → Turner Construction → trade subcontractors
What happened to it
Still standing / major MSK office ownership
MSK acquired approximately 415,000 square feet at 885 Third Avenue in 2022 for academic offices, dry research and administrative functions. DASNY records show fit-out and temporary occupancy activity in 2024–25.
Sources
3 citedOpen →
- 01hines.com
53rd at third new york
- 02
- 03commons.wikimedia.org
File:Lipstick Building New York City.jpg
- Melanie Lazarow from Brunswick, Australia · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · 2007-11-15
The Lipstick Building at 53rd Street and Third Avenue, photographed in 2007.
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