What is the triangle-shaped building in New York City?

Answer 1

There are a few triangle-shaped buildings in New York City. But the most famous one -- and the one I suspect you are thinking of -- is the Flatiron Building.

Everywhere except Lower Manhattan, the streets of Manhattan are arranged on a grid system. Each block is a little square (actually, a little rectangle). New York is also on an eastward slant. The island of Manhattan doesn't point north; it points northeast.

But the street known as Broadway (which runs almost the entire length of Manhattan) runs in a true north-south line. This means that Broadway runs through Manhattan in a diagonal line, interrupting the neat little grid pattern. That is why some of the blocks in New York City are triangles.

Thus, the Flatiron Building was not built in a triangle shape for aesthetic reasons. It was built that way because the block it is situated on is built that way.

Answer 2

There are actually a few triangle-shaped buildings in Manhattan, but the most famous one is the Flatiron Building, on 5th Avenue between East 22nd and East 23rd Street.