English: ".....A distinctive red number "9," a two-ton sculpture designed by Ivan Chermayeff, provided the final touch. When the humongous red digit arrived, Solow, Chermayeff and Bunshaft spent hours directing workmen to haul it back and forth around the building's plaza as they argued about its placement. In the end, Solow worked out a deal with the city to rent a piece of sidewalk out front for $1,000 a year.

The initial reaction to the building was by no means favorable. In its biennial architectural awards, the Fifth Avenue Association complained that "the Solow building has bad manners," saying that the building broke the street line and disrupted the scale of the buildings around it.

But Solow was nonplussed.

"In 20 years," he predicted, "that whole block will be developed at this scale, and I think my building will set the standard."

He was right, and the success at 9 West 57th catapulted Solow into a new league. In 1972, Avon Products moved into the building, renting 21 floors — more than 420,000 square feet — at $13.50 a square foot. The company later expanded, taking up 25 floors and signing a multi-year lease valued at more than $225 million."

http://ny.therealdeal.com/articles/solow-courts-new-battles-TueSep0216370704002008