Fran Lebowitz on Lever House:
“If you live here for more than five years, they’re going to tear down something you like. The invariable rule of thumb is that what they will put up is worse than what they tore down, even if what they tore down is terrible. I mean, I was once with a man who was asked ­ during the course of the time I was with him ­ to sign a petition to keep them from tearing down Lever House and he signed it. He’s a much older man and he turned to me and said, ‘You know, I remember signing a petition to keep them from putting up Lever House.’ And that is the story of anyone who has lived in New York long enough.”