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New Kid in Fidi: 130 William + Remi Flower & Coffee
Pals and I shuffled over to 130 William to check out the new cafe and flower shop there, but more than that: the architecture. This is the new supertall from the noted architect Sir David Adjaye, and while I don’t applaud buildings of that height, as usual, his use of materials is so striking. He built out the walls of the courtyard in the front of the tower in the same materials, making it feel like a secret grotto. You’re in a canyon, but somehow the light is filtering and reflecting throughout.
The Ghanaian-British architect is maybe best known here for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in DC; his first project in the US was the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, completed in 2007.
In 2017, Adjaye was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and was recognized as one of the 100 most influential people of the year by TIME Magazine. He is also a recipient of the 2021 RIBA Royal Gold Medal, considered one of the highest honors in British architecture for significant contributions to the field internationally, and the recipient of the World Economic Forum’s 27th Annual Crystal Award, which recognizes his “leadership in serving communities, cities and the environment.”
130 William is 66 stories, nearly 800 feet tall, with a facade of hand-cast concrete made in panels in Canada. (The doorman of the apartment building was perhaps the loveliest guy ever — he let us come in and gawk for a bit, and chat about Adjaye.) It’s super satisfying to watch the video of the concrete pouring here.
The cafe — Remi Flower & Coffee — offers pastries, coffees, speciaty drinks and flower arrangements. I believe they are an offshoot of Remi Coffee in Midtown East. The pastries were fine; there’s an original list of what they call cold “refreshers,” including a lime mint ade (loved) and an iced tumeric ginger tea. There’s also ice cream.
Worth the visit for the courtyard alone, with the cafe as a bonus.
Remi Flower & Coffee
130 William | Fulton & John
M-F 7am-6pm
Sat-Sun 7am-6pm
9 Comments
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Not to be a Debbie Downer, but the amount of trash generated from this luxury high-rise is mind-boggling.
The trash is placed on Fulton Street (not in sight of the building entrance on William) and the sidewalk is thus impassable.
(Same issue with other luxury high-rises in the area)
Of course it is inevitable that high-rise residential buildings generate a lot of trash – so particularly upsetting to see them go up on the narrow streets of “FiDi” having replaced smaller old buildings, many which which were just 5 stories.
It is obvious that high-rise buildings on these narrow streets are actually not OK – but of course the real estate sector pretty much controls NYC along with a few others.
Before about 2010, it was pretty quiet – several streets did not even have or need traffic lights.
But then the Gehry building came and the luxury tsunami followed.
Now lots of ecommerce delivery and Ubers – and congestion where there was none.
I have no idea how anyone can think of this building as anything other than a giant eyesore. The courtyard is ok thanks to the space and the trees except for the fact it looks like a graveyard. The color choice is an ugly gray and the design is somehow worse than the boring glass buildings built elsewhere. I look out my window and it covers a big part of my view. One giant tombstone blocks my view.
Remi is nice though…
I find it very handsome, and the old 130 William was really nothing special.
Gorgeous building with striking architecture. Hopefully this is the start of a clean-up of Fulton. Proximity to the lovely Seaport an added bonus!
This building is like a monumental piece of sculpture in the city. Love it.
I have to say that I don’t appreciate my comment being edited. I understand it’s a touchy topic, but if you didn’t want that here, that’s fine, but next time please just delete my entire comment, because it stands, this misrepresents my point of view.
I am going to edit anything I think could be libelous. Will delete your comment now.
I think this building turned out pretty well all things considered. It’s a unique design and I like the brass accents in windows which are carried through into the interior. If anything, 800ft seems to be on the short side for the Financial District in Manhattan. Hopefully we see more development and conversion of commercial space.
That the Tribeca Citizen “does not applaud buildings of that height” seems like a pretty wild and telling aside. Certainly NYC is for the better because of its skyscrapers, and the City’s housing woes are not because of buildings such as 130 William but rather because there are not enough of them.
I was verbally attacked by the manager of this property outside by the flower shop. A tall skinny man with a thick NY accent yelled at my kids (5 and 8!) for running around the plaza, being kids. They were just climbing the benches and jumping around, nothing worht yelling over.
I told him to “please stop yelling at my children” and he started cursing me out! “get your F- kids under control” I went back into the flower shop where one of the employees told me he manages the condo building, so rude and such a disgusting lack of manners!