2 Columbus Circle Goes to Craft Museum

NEW YORK CITY-The city will sell the controversial 2 Columbus Circle building to the American Craft Museum, rebuffing a higher bid from Donald Trump, who has long coveted the site, published reports say.

The museum reportedly won its bid to buy the nearly windowless white elephant with an offer somewhere between $15 and $20 million. A $10-million renovation is said to be in store for the structure, which Trump has said he would like to tear down, a plan that reportedly had the support of former mayor Rudy Giuliani.

While a battle over the Edward Durell Stone-designed building’s stark façade has raged since it opened in 1964, with supporters favoring a restoration and detractors hoping to flatten it, the Craft Museum reportedly plans to remove the façade and rebuild using more windows.

The building, located on the south end of Columbus Circle, originally opened as the Huntington Hartford Gallery of Modern Art. That institution later closed and the city’s Cultural Affairs Department later took occupancy. It has been vacant since the city moved out in late ’90s.