The Secret World of New York's Fake Buildings

We'll explore the Fake Building Phenomenon in New York City to see what's going on. From abandoned buildings to Hollywood, let's take a deep dive into NYC's Urban Planning History.

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"More About Here Be Barr"
I'm Jon Barr, an ex-sportscaster turned travel vlogger. If you're looking for waste no-time ,incredibly informative videos loaded with useful travel tips, you've come to the right place! My vlogs are made for the savvy traveler. Subscribe to learn all of my travel tips, tricks, and secrets that have helped me visit 33 countries. Based out of NYC but always on the go.

[tudorjason]

I would imagine living next to fake residential buildings would increase quietness, making the location more ideal.

[jeffreyrafos]

NYC Telecom worker here. Ive been in the Thomas St building. There is another one of those At&T buildings in Hells Kitchen on 10th Ave in the 50's. NSA does have a few floors in each which are used to monitor undersea comm cables coming in from Atlantic Ocean. Also the building used to bustle with activity but since the death of copper telephone service in city the necessity for workers has dropped to a skeleton crew.

[Stampershorttoe]

Ive never been to nyc, cant afford to go, not really ever planned to go but am hooked with these videos

[the-record-person]

My dad worked in that big windowless building. It was a Bell Telephone (AT&T) building that was meant to be super secure for national security purposes. Yes it looks like a nightmare but it was built to survive attacks and natural disasters because phone connectivity was/is vital.

[kathythompson]

As always, John, informative and fun and interesting!

[prestonradtke]

John, this is my favorite video of yours. Excellent work. Would be really interesting If you could do something on New York’s litany of private clubs: union, players, etc. Granted, you probably can’t get access to go inside, but a lot of them have some really interesting history.

[suefitz]

That is something I’ve never heard of or seen before. I wish I knew about those buildings when I was visiting. Thanks for such a comprehensive review of them with all that history ❤❤

[s.macintosh-jcrf]

Hi Jon,
Thanks for your wonderful video about ‘fake buildings’.
Fascinating stuff. You continue to provide great content!
Have a great weekend,
Peter

[melissaburden]

Great video! Love the "fake" buildings and your added historical info. Thanks!

[argetech]

Yeah I know about these Subway infrastructure facades! Very good video on what is taken for granted!

[adventureswithcarl]

Definitely one of the most interesting vlogs you have done so far! Had no clue about these fake buildings prior to watching this! Have a wonderful day

[squiggleworks]

I read a long time ago that the most vulnerable part of even the most well fortified building are doors and windows, so I can understand the thinking behind the AT&T building

[ollie]

Hi Jon, I just wanted to thank you for your helpful videos - after watching some of them we took the architectural boat tour and walked the High Line right after (there's an elevator on 23rd street/10th Ave right near Chelsea Piers where the boat tour starts and ends), those were fantastic suggestions. Thank you and greetings from Canada :)

[nathan-j-]

What a brilliant watch this was! Great work as always Jon!

[matttedder]

You should look into showcasing some of best FDNY firehouses. The architecture of some are amazing and I would love to see your take on them. Also I’m sure the FFs would suggest their favorite local food spots.

[maureenmaureen]

Most interesting!!! TY Jon. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[jfwfreo]

The AT&T Long Lines building contains a lot of long distance phone gear (probably including gear that handles phone calls coming across the Atlantic on undersea cables) so its logical that it would be a good place for the NSA to wiretap calls that it might be interested in.

Having lots of big vents makes sense as well, phone gear makes a lot of heat and you need a way to exhaust that heat and bring in cooler air from outside the building.

[Joezeppi]

I loved this video! Thanks for the education my friend 👍

[letsrolloutnyc]

Love this video, i didn’t know about some of these spots. Thanks for this amazing video Jon 💪🏽

[Lyons_T-BAG]

Very good and informative video, Jon. Thumbs up. Hope all is well!