• Flatiron Faces: Marc Glosserman of Hill Country Hospitality 
• Discover Flatiron: The Hoffman House  
• At the Galleries and Museums   
• District Deals, Walking Tours, Free Wi-Fi and more... 

Q. Describe the Flatiron district in three words: Classic. Vibrant. Home.

Q. The best BBQ in Flatiron (other than Hill Country) is served by: The Big Apple Barbecue Block Party for two days in Madison Square Park in early June.

Q. Other than BBQ and fried chicken, I would like to open a Tex-Mex restaurant in the Flatiron district.

Q. My favorite Flatiron district building is: The MetLife Tower with its enormous gilded clock and pyramidal spire. It reminds me of Big Ben from my days in London. There's nothing else like it in NYC.

Q. Don't miss the: Views in the Flatiron district: Standing at the corner of 26th & Fifth looking north is arguably the best photo op for the Empire State Building, and standing at 25th & Broadway (in front of Hill Country Chicken) looking southeast are phenomenal views across Worth Square of Madison Square Park, the Flatiron Building, and the MetLife Tower.

Q. The Flatiron district needs more: Japanese and Chinese food.

Q. My favorite place to grab a bite in the district (other than my own restaurants) is: SD26. My wife and I probably frequent the restaurant more than anywhere else in the neighborhood. It's a few steps away from our apartment, the food is delicious, and the owners, Tony and Marisa May, couldn't be warmer or more hospitable. My kids would vote for Shake Shack.

Q. What is your favorite piece of Flatiron district history? The original Madison Square Garden building was located nearby at 26th & Madison and in the 1870s was leased by P.T. Barnum to stage open-air circuses and was the site of the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

Q. Do you have a tip for visitors to the Flatiron district? Check out the gargantuan Italian market and multi-restaurant mecca at the corner of 23rd & Broadway. You'll likely have to brave a frenzy of other visitors, but it's worth it.

Q. My favorite store in Flatiron is: Eataly. See above.

Q. Favorite thing about the Flatiron district: It's a three-way tie. The architecture. The vibe. The food.  

Find Marc at his two Flatiron district restaurants Hill Country Barbecue Market, 30 West 26th Street or Hill Country Chicken, 1123 Broadway.   

The Albemarle and the Hoffman House, 1908

From its beginning in 1864, many Hoffman visitors were New York's Tammany Hall power brokers, who considered the hotel their unofficial political headquarters. Elite members included Grover Cleveland, residing at the Hoffman on the day he was elected to his second non-consecutive term as President in 1892, as well as legendary Democratic Party strategist William Magear "Boss" Tweed. The hotel also welcomed extended stays from diverse notables such as newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst, actress Sarah Bernhardt and showman William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody.

One of the hotel's hottest attractions was the saloon, where patrons sipped Wilson Pure Rye Whiskey, the house drink of choice, and viewed risqué sculptures and paintings that included Adolphe William Bouguereau's 1873 "Nymphs and Satyr."  Neighborhood moralists declared offensive the 12-foot masterpiece of four nude women prancing around a faun on display in the barroom's gallery under a red velvet canopy. The reported $15,000 painting was owned by Edward S. Stokes, one of the Hoffman's earlier proprietors, who had previously served four years in Sing Sing for manslaughter in the 1872 murder of fellow financier and associate James Fisk, Jr. over money disputes and the men's shared adulterous affection for songstress Helen Josephine Mansfield. A fictionalized account of their love triangle was the subject of the 1937 film The Toast of New York starring Edward Arnold as Fisk, Frances Farmer as Mansfield and Cary Grant in the role of Nick Boyd, the character based on Stokes.   

But these weren't the only scandalous events to make headlines for the Hoffman House. In 1867, The New York Times reported that a lawyer registered under the name C.C. Woodman took a room on the sixth floor and then shot himself in the head. Letters found at the scene expressed the 35-year-old's despondency over life. And in 1872, a 32-year-old Cambridge University educated, ex-British Army officer named George C. Van Eck, who had allegedly squandered his inheritance, died in a top floor room after reportedly ingesting a lethal mix of opium, laudanum and liquor.

In a much needed makeover after nearly two decades, the Hoffman House underwent a series of improvements and expansions that began in 1882 and included a 12-story, 216-room fireproof steel annex, the addition of neighboring Albemarle Hotel, which had opened in 1860, and a modernized Broadway entrance with square pillars made of Numidian marble.

The Hoffman House bar, showing the installation of the painting Nymphs and Satyr.

New Year's 1895 proved to be one of the hotel's remarkable re-openings. Catering to international travelers and locals alike, guests and suite tenants relaxed in private dining parlors such as designated English rooms decorated with old English tapestry, a Louis XV breakfast room and a Chinese room filled with bamboo furniture. Melodies played by musicians in a ventilated section of the Hoffman House could be heard throughout the hotel. 

Other lavish Hoffman amenities included Turkish and Russian baths, a ladies' writing room, butcher shop, attendants in waiting, an on-call physician and a refrigerating plant that could make 20 tons of ice each day. The Hoffman's rooftop restaurant was a favorite among many, and according to one of the hotel's promotional guides, "Here, where all the delicacies of the season are being served to the comfort-seeking guests, they can look down on the toiling, over-heated pedestrians far below."

The Hoffman's high-life stature, however, began to diminish due primarily to the decline in the area's popularity as a hotel hub and the Panic of 1907, triggered by a deep dip in the stock market, thus forcing the hotel and many other businesses into bankruptcy. With an inability to meet mounting expenses that dated back as far as the early 1890's, the Hoffman House eventually closed its doors in 1915 and was demolished for the debut of a 16-story office and loft building.

50 Books/50 Covers:

Since 1923, AIGA's "50 Books/50 Covers" competition has recognized excellence in book design and production. This exhibition showcases the best-designed books and book covers published in 2010, selected in 2011.

AWay: An exhibit at the Greensquare Tavern with selected works by Hillary Altman, a Manhattan based multimedia artist who has exhibited both nationally and internationally.

5 West 21st Street, through February.

www.greensquaretavern.com 

The Sex Lives of Animals: This ongoing exhibit establishes a "new natural history" and exposes how humans may not be the only species in the animal kingdom engaging in sex for pleasure.  

Action: Sex and the Moving Image: walks patrons through the rich visual history of sex on the screen, from the first kiss caught on film to the modern-day porn industry.

The Spotlight gallery displays culturally significant artifacts from the Museum's Permanent Collection of over 15,000 objects, including art, historical ephemera and technological innovations

233 Fifth Avenue, ongoing. 

www.museumofsex.com 

Architects As....:

31 West 26th Street, 6th Floor, through February.

www.facebook.com/pages/SPACED-Gallery-of-Architecture/ 

Swann Auction Galleries was founded in 1941 as an auction house specializing in rare books. Today Swann has separate departments devoted to photographs, posters, prints, drawings, books, maps, atlases and autographs.

Upcoming exhibitions and auctions:

February 2: Vintage Posters

February 16: African-American Fine Art

February 23:  Private Press & Illustrated Books

104 East 25th Street

www.swanngalleries.com  

Check out special offers from Flatiron district businesses on the District Deals page. From discounts on beauty services, restaurant and bar happy hours to free tax time consultations, the District Deals page has it all.  For more information, click here. 

From the site of Stanford White's infamous love nest to the story of America's first community Christmas tree, the Flatiron Partnership's free walking tours offer a unique perspective of a historic neighborhood. Expert guides spin a spellbinding narrative filled with inside information about the area's more colorful figures and its architectural wonders like the MetLife ClockTower, the Flatiron Building, and the exquisite NYS Appellate Courthouse.

The tour meets every Sunday (rain or shine) at 11:00 a.m. at the southwest corner of Madison Square Park, 23rd Street and Broadway, in front of the William Seward statue.  For more information, click here.