Construction Site Progress at 5th Avenue Apple Store in NYC

Shot from the west; you can see the southern fountain is gutted.

I happened to be by the 5th Avenue Apple store yesterday (what a zoo) and had a chance to photograph progress of the new store build.  You may recall, the underground 5th Avenue Apple store has been closed for renovation/reconstruction, and the glass cube above the basement store has been taken down. (Jump to the bottom of the article for an Apple Maps view I annotated for context.)

Shot from the west; you can see the southern fountain is gutted.
Shot from the west; you can see the southern fountain is gutted.
Temporary entrance to temporary Apple Store
Temporary entrance to temporary Apple Store at the old FAO Schwarz toy store

As you can see in the photos, Apple put a tarp over where the glass cube used to stand.  The company also seems to have gutted the fountain displays that sat to the north and south of the glass cube.

Shot from the north west, and a bit higher showing the top of the tarp.
Shot from the north west, and a bit higher showing the top of the tarp.

It’s not clear why the fountains were gutted or whether Apple plans to build something in its place. It’s not likely Cartier would allow any structure much more than a fountain to be built there as it would block its store from view.

From the west; the gutted northern fountain in front of Cartier.
From the west; the gutted northern fountain in front of Cartier.

Anyway, I’m not sure what is going on with the fountains, but hope you enjoy the shots of the progress. Let us know in the comments what you think might be happening at the site.

From the north; shot of the fountain and cube tarp.
From the north; shot of the fountain and cube tarp.
Shot from the north; the black tarp covers where the glass cube used to stand, and behind that you see the temporary apple store front where the old FAO Schwarz toy store used to reside.
Shot from the north; the black tarp covers where the glass cube used to stand, and behind that you see the temporary apple store front where the old FAO Schwarz toy store used to reside.
Closer shot of the tarp covering what used to be the entrance at the glass cube.
Closer shot of the tarp covering what used to be the entrance at the glass cube.
Shot from the south
Shot from the south
Apple Maps satellite view of Apple 5th Ave — annotated for context
Apple Maps satellite view of Apple 5th Ave when the famous glass “Cube” was still in place — annotated for context

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