{"id":131210,"date":"2025-09-04T02:52:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T02:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/131210\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T02:52:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T02:52:08","slug":"three-new-york-buildings-rank-among-americas-ugliest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/131210\/","title":{"rendered":"Three New York buildings rank among America\u2019s ugliest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but when it comes to America\u2019s least-loved buildings, there seems to be a consensus. A new national survey of more than 3,000 people has ranked the top 100 ugliest structures in the country<\/a> and three New York buildings managed to snag spots on the list. Spoiler: None of them are winning any design awards anytime soon.<\/p>\n

First up, Buffalo\u2019s Frank A. Sedita City Court Building (aka Buffalo City Court) cracked the top 5, landing at No. 3. The 10-story Brutalist courthouse, built between 1971 and 1974, was designed by local firm Pfohl, Roberts and Biggie and stands across from Buffalo City Hall on Niagara Square. Its looming concrete fa\u00e7ade, narrow vertical windows and fortress-like presence were meant to minimize distractions for judges and jurors, but the result looks more like a Cold War bunker than a civic centerpiece. Let\u2019s just say it\u2019s not exactly Niagara Falls<\/a> material.<\/p>\n

RECOMMENDED: These stunning NYC restaurants have been shortlisted for this year\u2019s Restaurant & Bar Design Awards<\/a><\/p>\n

Downstate, Rochester\u2019s Monroe County Hall of Justice claimed the No. 18 slot. Functionality is the name of the game here, with a boxy form and a design that prizes efficiency over charm. It houses county courts, but its squat massing and austere exterior don\u2019t exactly scream \u201cjustice for all.\u201d For many locals, it blends so seamlessly into the background that it\u2019s almost aggressively forgettable.<\/p>\n

And bringing it home for the New York metro area, the Westchester County Office Building in White Plains pulled in at No. 40. While not as infamous as Buffalo\u2019s concrete monolith, this midcentury government block has its own reputation for uninspired design. Its rigid lines and uninspired fa\u00e7ade make it feel more DMV than dignified.<\/p>\n

The methodology behind the list was straightforward: Researchers conducted an online survey in July 2025, sampling respondents across age, gender and geography to ensure representativeness. Participants were asked to weigh in on civic and municipal buildings across the country, from courthouses to city halls. The resulting ranking reads like a hall of fame for Brutalist holdovers, boxy bureaucratic hubs and concrete-heavy complexes that never quite won over the public.<\/p>\n

The next time you\u2019re in Buffalo, Rochester or White Plains, look up\u2014and decide for yourself if these buildings deserve their less-than-glamorous accolades. After all, ugly can be iconic, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but when it comes to America\u2019s least-loved buildings, there…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131211,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,2629,229,88,82918,2628],"class_list":{"0":"post-131210","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-categories-things-to-do","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-news-weird-wonderful","15":"tag-things-to-do"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131210\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}