In this circa 1930s shot—a rare treat taken from the rooftops—the photographer was looking south along Broadway from around 8^th Street. The building on the right with the flying buttresses (is that what they’re called?) is the Eastern-Columbia Building at 849 S. Broadway (a department store, 1930 to 1957) which is now a building of loft apartments. But take note of the elaborate decoration on the building to the left. A dozen stories in the air, nobody would see any of it, but someone thought it was worthwhile.

The Eastern-Columbia building in April 2019:

The Easter-Columbia building as seen from the air in 2020. As you can see, it really stands out.