BETWEEN THE BRICKS.

Its such a simple idea that you might kick yourself a hundred times for not seeing it. But alas, that's what distinguishes Vornado's Steve Ross and Michael Fascitelli from the rest of us earthlings.

Let's say you had a chance to buy a slender, landmarked tower on a wedding cake office building along the ritziest part of Madison Avenue, would you pay through the skyline to leave it as a warren of art galleries and office tenants?

And let's say this certain dowdy tower happens to be plunked next to the glorious Four Seasons Hotel, which can provide so much more than the most coveted Beanie Babies?

Yes, it's to say "Oh my! Why didn't I see that!"

The Madison Avenue Shopper confided that the gameplan is to convert the 332,000 square-foot building to $2,000-a-foot-and-up condos, with the residents obtaining many services from the Four Seasons. And you were wondering how the Vornado tornado could afford to spend $376.51 a foot in September?

The eight-base floors of the building measure about 13,700 square feet each. Then there are a series of wedding cake setbacks all the way up to the 2,500 square-foot 40th floor.

But what will make it even simpler as a conversion are the two elevator banks. There are six elevators to the 18th floor and a separate bank of three that run from 18 to 40.

Currently, lower floors that had been offered for rent as offices are off the market, so if the leases allow, at least the top floor tenants could possibly be relocated south, if not everyone cleared completely. The heavily trafficked corner, however, garners the top city retail rents, and Vornado would retain those tenants.

One big building converter that looked and passed believes Vornado would have to spend a lot of money moving the tenants around; it could take a long time to do the renovation; and they may be placing too high a bet that the residential market has no place to go but up.

But if the For Sale signs were blessed by the Attorney General, Sotheby's top selling broker Dolly Lenz says, "I have today clients that would ink deals. That location is fabulous. The idea of [linking] the Four Seasons is fabulous, and you get the high ceilings."

Many of her world-wide buyers have walked away from new buildings where the ceilings were low, and that's why she says Trump International Hotel & Tower did so well as a conversion. The same is true of the upgoing Trump World Tower, where 12-foot ceilings have helped her to sell the two top floors and other units amounting to some $70 million or so of its nearly $300 million in sales so far.

The Fuller Building would also work as a hotel condo, Lenz believes. The base wouldn't necessarily have to be converted from offices, either, to make it appeal to her clients. "It depends how they set up the lobbies," she says.

Louise Sunshine, head of the luxury unit marketers The Sunshine Group, who has been working with Roth at the Park Laurel and on the upcoming Alexander's units, didn't return a call by deadline.

Roth didn't want to talk about anything when we approached him at the exclusive Cushman Realty dinner at Le Cirque last week. "No press," he pleaded, turning away. But when we monopolized Michael Fascitelli, sporting a new beard that probably helps him hide from reporters and brokers alike, he agreed that 595 Madison would make a nice residential conversion. "Yes it would," he said, heading back to the cigars and Cushman's California homegrown Zaca Mesa wines.

He was probably relieved we didn't push him on Alexander's.

Edward J. Minskoff is cashing in on his 1166 Avenue of the Americas office condominium purchase with a variety of leases. "We have six leases out and I'm signing a deal with Bell Atlantic as we speak," he said last Friday. But he quickly quashed industry speculation that Chase was taking the entire 566,370 square-foot package. "I've heard all kinds of rumors with other tenants," he said, "but that's not true."

Don't Be Fooled Again: Many owners have received a postcard warning of a "Local Law No. 11 Final Notice" that appears to come from the Department of Buildings but does not. The postcard does correctly advise that under the city's Rule 32-03, owners of buildings of six stories, including the basement and penthouse, have to file an inspection report with the Department of Buildings no later than March 1, 2000.

But the postcard says you can schedule an inspection by dialing the number on the postcard. The Department of Buildings is NOT conducting inspections, and did NOT send out the postcard.

The phone actually belongs to a private company soliciting business. To get the REAL Building Department info on the Local Law 10 and 11 cycles, call director Ronald McCain at [phone].

One problem owners are facing is that many of the scaffold companies are overbooked. According to Dan Margulies, executive director of the Community Housing Improvement Program, the March I deadline is merely for filing an update to the five-year cycle that did not previously include the inspection of walls not facing public areas and street.

It does not require the scaffolding or hands-on inspection of the street walls to meet the requirements of Local Law 11, which is not due until February of 2002.

But it would mean having to pay your inspector to come twice, and having the scaffold scheduled for the second visit.

Margulies says it's still possible to have your architect or engineer update the old cycle by March 1st by looking at the other three walls and updating the filing. "But you won't face penalties to missing the deadline on the old cycle and adding the other walls. It will cost you a little more to do the next inspection," Margulies warns, "but the city penalties are significant."