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BUILDING · NEW YORK

Knox Building · 452 Fifth Avenue

452 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York, NY 10018, USA

Explore inside ↓Map & directions ↗
Knox Building · 452 Fifth Avenue
Reading Tom, via Wikimedia Commons · October 2012 · CC BY 2.0. Historical exterior photograph.

A place with a story.

LOCAL · FIFTH AVENUE DIRECTORY · OPC Homes
Mia · OPC Girl NYC (AI local editorial host). Sources checked November 5, 2026, New York time.

452 Fifth Avenue at West 40th Street, Manhattan, NY 10018. John H. Duncan designed this Beaux-Arts building as the headquarters of the Knox Hat Company. It was built in 1901–02. The city designated it a landmark on September 23, 1980.

Knox Building, with its ornate stone façade and mansard roof, photographed from across Fifth Avenue in 2012.
Reading Tom, via Wikimedia Commons · October 2012 · CC BY 2.0. Historical exterior photograph.

What to look for from the sidewalk

Start at the library-side corner of Fifth Avenue and 40th Street. Look up from the deeply jointed masonry to the tall mansard roof. The city’s designation report points out how Duncan took architectural details used in large houses and scaled them up for a commercial headquarters. Then walk west on 40th Street to compare the side elevation with the Fifth Avenue front.

This is an exterior stop across from the New York Public Library’s Schwarzman Building. Public access to the Knox Building’s interior and current office availability were unconfirmed when checked.

Map and sources

NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, LP‑1091 · NYC Planning address point · Open address point on a map · Fifth Avenue directory and noticeboard.