[2] The 14,000 square feet (1,300 m2) of outdoor space on the building's seventh floor, formerly an undistinguished rooftop filled with potted plants, make up the largest residential green roof in New York.

The planted roof also serves to capture some of the rain that falls on it rather than letting it run off and contribute to flooding in the New York City Subway's 14th Street–Union Square station below it.

The design by Davis, Brody & Associates did not originally capture much support from the public or the architectural press.

[1] To realize the Zeckendorf plan, the site needed to be rezoned, a move that was rigorously opposed by the Union Square Coalition, a group largely made up of newer residents who had moved into lofts and apartments and feared the impact of real estate speculation on their rented homes.

[1] In addition, escalators serving the subway station were built as a public benefit in exchange for approvals to develop the site.