One of the best looking modern towers in New York, residential or commercial, this tower commands sensational views and its neighborhood, once mostly tenements, was been constantly improving since it was completed in 1987.

The building sports a rather rakish top with an oceanliner-like prow facing the avenue and has a very attractive plaza with public art. Its green-glass façade is very finely detailed.

Developed by Robert Gladstone and Nilin Joshi, the 230-unit condominium building was designed by Beyer Blinder Belle, a firm noted for its historic preservation projects, and Vinjay Kale.

Gladstone, one of the city's more design-sensitive developers, and his family were the developers also of the Galleria on East 57th Street and the concave office tower at the northwest corner of 57th Street and Lexington Avenue.

"Like the Irish crystal for which it is named, this is a particularly elegant piece of craftsmanship. The 48-story tower stands out (for now) from the surrounding urban fabric of this once not very fashionable area," observed Elliot Willensky and Norval White in their excellent book, "The A.I.A. Guide to New York City, Third Edition," (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988).

The tower still stands out and in late 1997 the building began to combine some smaller available units into larger ones to take advantage of the significant market demand for such units.