Tag Archives: landmark

888 Grand Concourse

888 Grand Concourse

Bronx, New York, , , , , , , , , , ,

888 Grand Concourse has seen better days. But even in decline, the curvaceous Art Deco landmark is striking and memorable. The bold corner treatment, in particular, stands out for its concave gilt and mosaic entry.

The Emery Roth-designed apartment building stands at E 161st Street, across the “Boulevard of Dreams” from the old Bronx County Courthouse. In 2009, The New York Times called 888 “a particular stunner, a medley of curves, scallops and concave spaces executed in black granite, bronze, stainless steel, marble mosaic and gold stripes.”

Since then, the building has fallen on hard times. In 2013, the Daily News reported that the apartment house had 341 open violations and was one of the Bronx’s ten worst buildings. In February 2016 tenants staged a rent strike, and the building is in foreclosure, according to The Real Deal. The New York Real Estate news site described the building as “rat-infested.”

One can only hope that the landmark emerges from foreclosure with an owner that can rehabilitate the building.

888 Grand Concourse Vital Statistics
  • Location: 888 Grand Concourse at E 161 Street
  • Year completed: 1937
  • Architect: Emery Roth
  • Floors: 6
  • Style: Art Deco
  • New York City Landmark: 2011
888 Grand Concourse Recommended Reading

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Goelet Building

Manhattan, New York, , , , , , , , , , ,

Goelet Building * looks surprisingly modern for architecture more than a century old. The structure was built in two stages. The first five floors were completed in 1887. The original sixth floor was demolished in 1906† and replaced with five floors that more or less mimicked the three floors below.

The Maynicke & Franke addition blends very well with the McKim, Mead & White original. The NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission notes minor differences in materials and patterns, but the final result maintains a colorful, yet elegant appearance. This is no small accomplishment; add-on floors can be disastrous. Just take a look at De Lemos & Cordes’ 1889 Armeny Building, defaced by a two-story addition in 1893.

As with their Warren Building diagonally across the street, McKim, Mead & White faced the challenge of a non-rectangular plot. They rounded the corner, to avoid the awkward corner dictated by the property line.

In his New York Times Streetscapes column, historian Christopher Gray lauds the Justin family for rescuing the Goetlet Building from decline. Zoltan Justin bought the building in 1977. He and son Jeffrey cleaned the facade, removed non-historic elements, and restored the structure to its original glory.

* Not to be confused with the 1932 Goelet Building, now known as Swiss Center Building, located at Fifth Avenue and W 49th Street.

†See Tom Miller’s post in Daytonian in Manhattan for a look at the original six-story building.

Goelet Building Vital Statistics
  • Location: 900 Broadway at E 20th Street
  • Year completed: 1887; enlarged in 1906
  • Architect: McKim, Mead & White; 1906 expansion by Maynicke & Franke
  • Floors: 10
  • Style: Industrial
  • New York City Landmark: 1989
Goelet Building Recommended Reading

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Cable Building

Cable Building

Manhattan, New York, , , , , , , , , ,

Cable Building, at the southwestern corner of the NoHo Historic District, is the last remnant of a San Francisco-style cable car system that once served lower Manhattan. The nine-story* Beaux Arts building housed the massive steam engines and winding wheels that pulled 40-ton cables at 30 mph. Alas, the cable system was uneconomical. The last cable car ran just seven years after the first.

For architects McKim, Mead & White, this was their first all-steel-frame building. The four-story-deep basement held the machinery. Above ground, it was a doughnut of offices built around a central light court. Both of the building’s Houston Street corners are chamfered. Light orange brick and terra cotta rise above the two-story limestone arcade base.

While Broadway’s Bowling Green-to-36th Street cable cars did not survive, Cable Building did. Metropolitan Traction Company reorganized as New York Railways Company, and sold the building in 1925. For the next six decades the structure housed small businesses and manufacturers. Then in the late 1980s it went back to being an office building.

Angelika Film Center took up residence in 1989, using the four basement floors.

* The building appears to be eight stories, if you count the floors of large windows. But tiny square windows tucked under the cornice – and larger windows in the north facade – reveal an attic ninth floor.

Cable Building Vital Statistics
  • Location: 611 Broadway at Houston Street
  • Year completed: 1894
  • Architect: McKim, Mead & White
  • Floors: 9
  • Style: Beaux Arts
  • New York City Landmark: 1999
Cable Building Recommended Reading

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Bolivar

Bolivar

Manhattan, New York, , , , , , , , , ,

Bolivar is a Georgian-styled co-op of red brick accented with white stone and terra cotta. Its 15 stories contain mostly smaller apartments – studios and 1 BR. Some apartments were combined, though, so even 4BR units are available. One four-bedroom unit recently sold for $10.3 million, according to StreetEasy NY.

Seinfeld reportedly liked the place so much he held onto his bachelor pad even after he got married and moved two blocks away to the Beresford. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

The Bolivar has an unusual feature – a brick roof. Tenants use it as a sun deck and garden. (See photos in the Condopedia article.)

Bolivar Vital Statistics
  • Location: 230 Central Park West at W 83 Street
  • Year completed: 1926
  • Architect: Nathan Korn
  • Floors: 15
  • Style: Neo-Georgian
  • New York City Landmark: 1990
  • National Register of Historic Places: 1982
Bolivar Recommended Reading

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65 Central Park West

65 Central Park West

Manhattan, New York, , , , , , , , ,

65 Central Park West is one of nine Central Park West landmarks* designed by famed Emery Roth. Less dramatic than Roth’s towered San Remo, Beresford, or El Dorado, this Neo-Renaissance co-op is still impressive New York architecture.

The building’s location, across from Tavern on the Green and just a three-block walk from Lincoln Center, is idyllic.

Apartments here are currently listed at between $975,000 and $5.5 million.

* One of the Emery Roth landmarks, Mayflower Hotel (1925), was demolished in 2004 to make way for Robert A.M. Stern’s 15 CPW. Roth’s other Central Park landmarks are still standing. Besides 65 CPW they are (moving uptown): San Remo (1930), Beresford (1929), Alden (1926), 275 CPW (1930), 295 CPW (1940), El Dorado (1931), and Ardsley (1931).

65 Central Park West Vital Statistics
  • Location: 65 Central Park West at 66th Street
  • Year completed: 1926
  • Architect: Emery Roth
  • Floors: 16
  • Style: Neo-Renaissance
  • New York City Landmark: 1990
  • National Register of Historic Places: 1982
65 Central Park West Recommended Reading

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311 Amsterdam Avenue

311 Amsterdam Avenue

Manhattan, New York, , , , , , , , , , ,

311 Amsterdam Avenue, aka The Wachusett, was built in 1889 as flats. Architect Edward L. Angell designed the five-story brick building in Romanesque Revival style, with Queen Anne embellishments.

According to the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, the structure has masonry bearing walls. (Since the advent of modern iron, steel, and concrete frames, brick is usually used only to seal and decorate the facade.)

The building was converted to condominiums in 2006.

311 Amsterdam Avenue Vital Statistics
  • Location: 311 Amsterdam Avenue at W 75th Street
  • Year completed: 1889
  • Architect: Edward L. Angell
  • Floors: 5
  • Style: Romanesque Revival, Queen Anne
  • New York City Landmark: 1990
311 Amsterdam Avenue Recommended Reading
  • NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission designation report (Upper West Side – Central Park West Historic District)
  • The New York Times listing
  • City Realty listing

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295 Central Park West

295 Central Park West

Manhattan, New York, , , , , , , , , ,

295 Central Park West is a lesser-known work of Emery Roth, the preeminent New York apartment building architect. The 19-story-plus-penthouse building stands at W 90th Street, and is part of the Upper West Side-Central Park West Historic District.

The facade is quite plain, even for Art Moderne. A modest stone surround marks the centered entry on Central Park West; a decorative brick bandcourse separates the first and second floors. The only other significant architectural detail is the use of rounded corners (and rounded corner windows).

The building has so far resisted conversion to condominium or co-op.

295 Central Park West Vital Statistics
  • Location: 295 Central Park West at W 90 Street
  • Year completed: 1941
  • Architect: Emery Roth & Sons
  • Floors: 20
  • Style: Art Moderne
  • New York City Landmark: 1990
  • National Register of Historic Places: 1982
295 Central Park West Recommended Reading

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230 Riverside Drive

Manhattan, New York, , , , , , , , ,

230 Riverside Drive is relatively plain on its 15 lower floors, but blossoms above the setback with gargoyles, arcades and glass-canopied penthouse.

The landmarked building was converted to condominiums in 2004. According to Street Easy NY, the sponsor renovated the 268 units in three classes. High-end apartments were lavishly fitted with the finest appliances and amenities, including heated bathroom floors. Some units were renovated “in a more economical sense,” and some units were offered as “do-it-yourself” units.

However, under guidance of conversion architect H. Thomas O’Hara, the sponsor did preserve and restore the structure’s terra cotta.

While the facade’s style is Medieval Revival, the lobby is designed in Art Deco. It was last renovated in 2011.

230 Riverside Drive Vital Statistics
  • Location: 230 Riverside Drive at W 95 Street
  • Year completed: 1931; condo conversion, 2004
  • Architect: Charles H. Lench; condo conversion, H. Thomas O’Hara
  • Floors: 19
  • Style: Medieval Revival
  • New York City Landmark: 2015
230 Riverside Drive Recommended Reading

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126 E 66 Street

Manhattan, New York, , , , , , , , , ,

126 E 66 Street is memorable for its Roman brick arches and massive wood doors. The picturesque three-story residence is directly across the street from the Seventh Regiment Armory (aka Park Avenue Armory), built 17 years prior.

According to NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission research, the building “Replaced a rowhouse built in the 1870’s. Built as a stable, coach house, and residence for coachman’s family. Henry 0. Havemeyer, who commissioned the stable, lived at 1 East 66th Street. After its completion, he sold it to Oliver H. Payne, brother-in-law of William C. Whitney.” The building was sold to John Hay Whitney and at this writing is still in the Whitney family.

An article in Curbed NY points out that the building is only a remnant of the original structure. As built, the coach house and stables extended to the site of 122-124 E 66 Street.

Havemeyer, who commissioned the building, was the prominent Domino Sugar magnate for whom the Brooklyn Street is named.

126 E 66 Street Vital Statistics
  • Location: 126 E 66 Street between Park and Lexington Avenues
  • Year completed: 1895
  • Architect: William J Wallace and S.E. Gage
  • Floors: 3
  • Style: Romanesqu Revival
  • New York City Landmark: 1981 (Upper East Side Historic District)
126 E 66 Street Recommended Reading

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Park Plaza Apartments

Bronx, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Park Plaza Apartments is one of the first Art Deco apartment houses to be built in the Bronx. It was designed by the prolific team of Horace Ginsberg and Marvin Fine, who built dozens of buildings on and around the Grand Concourse, including the Fish Building and Noonan Plaza Apartments. Bold, colorful glazed terra cotta enlivens the 365-foot-wide facade.

Ginsberg (who later changed his name to Ginsbern) specialized in the design and layout of apartments, while Fine specialized in the elevations – the facades. Fine began his career working for Cass Gilbert, the architect of the Woolworth Building, among other landmarks. But while working for Ginsberg – in the midst of the Park Plaza project – Fine broke with his classical training and experience to embrace “modernistic” design. Fine credited the work of William Van Alen (Chrysler Building) and Raymond Hood (American Radiator Building) as his inspiration.

The Park Plaza Apartments is on an L-shaped site with its long side on Jerome Avenue; the base pokes through the block to Anderson Avenue. The eight-story building, viewed from the front, has five blocks or wings separated by courtyards. Initially, the building was to have 10 floors. During construction, fire destroyed the building, and the Department of Buildings imposed a lower height for the rebuilt apartments.

When built, Park Plaza Apartments promoted its quiet views of Jerome Park. Part of the park remains (Mullaly Park), but the New Yankee Stadium occupies what was Macombs Dam Park, across the street. So much for quiet.

(At this writing, facade repairs spoil the picture; I hope to re-photograph the building when the scaffolding is removed.)

Park Plaza Apartments Vital Statistics
  • Location: 1005 Jerome Avenue at E 164th Street and 1000 Anderson Avenue (Bronx)
  • Year completed: 1931
  • Architect: Horace Ginsbern and Marvin Fine
  • Floors: 8
  • Style: Art Deco
  • New York City Landmark: 1981
  • National Register of Historic Places: 1982
Park Plaza Apartments Recommended Reading

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