I have been looking a the ‘path of the sun NY’ and see how the sun is much lower in the sky this time of year. This is the best illustration I have found at this point.
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The light is pretty much great all day long this time of year.
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The First Tower slab was poured to Level 29 and the facade was installed up to Level 14.
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Shape certainly reminds me of the Flatiron Building. But the facade makes this one nice but not great. So it goes.
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One Hanson remembers when it was king of Brooklyn -
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Great photo set posted above by Mackensen.
Those fins or ‘louvers’ on the facade are made of hollow sheet metal panels; as on can see from the photo. They look like solid stone slabs to my eye when viewed from the outside: very smart, cost effective facade detail.
This is a quality facade; this project has got both brains & beauty. 
They look great, solid, substantial - but light weight for construction efficiency.
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See, not all aluminum extruded panels are cheap or only used in low cost buildings. Aluminum is widely used because it is durable and lightweight, not because it is cheap.
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Those hollow metal panels are ‘cheaper’ than solid stone. The lower cost of both labor & material results in a big net savings: so it is a smart choice.
The term ‘cost less’ or ‘cheaper’ is the accurate term I should be using in this context.
So yes, to your point - these hollow metal panels are not “cheap” in terms of low cost/quality.
But generally, aluminum panels are not only used in low budget/visually cheap projects as you gestured towards in the 15 Beekman St thread. That’s more what I was getting at. I also use aluminum extruded very narrowly in this case because only mullions are generally extruded aluminum, not actual panels which are just shaped/bent into form.
As it pertains to stone (you don’t have to add solid), stone/brick facades aren’t “solid” as they were back in the day when the entire thickness of the building was solid to bear the weight of the building (IE. Monadnock Building, etc) most stone facades are indeed hollowed out if they are part of a large and even small projection on a facade. Otherwise, stone cladding is as thin as 1-2 inches now just like a countertop . And brick of course is just a veneer now, it’s not a physical building material anymore.
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One thing that is interesting to me is the way stone and masonry veneer facades are now being designed with much of the same variation and flair as the solid versions that were built a century and more ago. I get pleasure out of putting images of some of Stern’s recent buildings next to those of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century that went up in Chicago and later many other cities. Stern is mimicking the older style in new ways that attract the eye with equal intensity.
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