650 West End Avenue
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650 West End Avenue
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Date:Â 1917
NB Number:Â NB 458-1916
Type: Â Apartment Building
Architect: Â Schwartz & Gross
Developer/Owner/Builder:Â 650 West End Avenue Corporation
NYC Landmarks Designation:Â Historic District
Landmark Designation Report:Â Â Riverside Drive- West End Historic District
National Register Designation:Â N/A
Primary Style: Â Neo-Georgian
Primary Facade: Â Â Limestone, Red Brick, and Terra Cotta
Stories:Â 13 and basement
Window Type/Material:Â Six-over-six/Wood and ten-over-one/Stained glass
Basement Type:Â Unknown
Structure:Â Â This apartment building, of thirteen stories with a basement, is located on a lot at the southeast corner of West End Avenue and West 92nd Street which extends approximately 101 feet along the avenue and eighty-two feet along the street. It is clad in red brick laid in common bond with limestone and terra-cotta trim. In plan it is arranged around an interior court which opens to the east. The original windows, most of which remain, have six-over-six wood sash.
West End Avenue Facade: This facade is divided horizontally into a two story base, a seven story midsection, and a four story top. The. base contains an entrance with a double-height stone surround flanked by four window bays on each side. The entrance, flanked by narrow six-over-six wood sash stained glass windows, is crowned by a semicircular transom. The second story, above the entrance, contains paired windows with transoms flanked by pilasters and capped by a dentiled cornice. The three bays flanking the entrance are enhanced by double height brick pilasters. Above a stone basement with windows covered by iron grilles, the first story windows are topped by brick arches with stone keystones and tympanums filled with brick headers. Above a stone cornice at the second story, the facade is articulated by two tripartite window bays with thick mullions in the center, flanked by four single bays on each side. The tenth story is defined by two beltcourses. The eleventh and twelfth stories have double-height brick pilasters with stone capitals similar to those at the base; these are surmounted by a bandcourse and a dentiled cornice. The thirteenth story is surmounted by a brick parapet with terra cotta coping and volutes flanking the stepped center.
West 92nd Street Facade:Â This facade, nine bays wide, continues the same overall design and articulation of detail as the West End Avenue facade. The first story contains an entrance in an arched doorway with an adjacent slit window in the eastern bay, and an entrance in the second bay from the west. Windows in the western bays have ten-over-one wood sash.
Eastern Elevation: The eastern elevation, visible above the fourth story of the neighboring building, is divided into two wings by an interior court. It is faced in red brick with yellow brick beltcourses reflecting those of the primary facades, and has one visible window opening per story.
Southern Elevation: An alleyway with a wrought-iron fence separates the southern elevation from the neighboring building. Faced in red brick, it has brick quoins at the eastern end and four bays per story. Yellow brick beltcourses reflect those of the primary facades.
Historic District: Riverside Drive- West End HD
Alterations:Â Â : Except for a few windows with one-over-one replacement wood sash windows at the twelfth story of the West End Avenue facade and the fourth story of the West 92nd Street facade, and additional windows on the southern elevation, the building retains its original windows. The entrances on West 92nd Street contain metal doors (painted black). The eastern elevation features repointing adjacent to the West 92nd Street facade, and-the brick has been painted gray at the top. The main entrance on West End Avenue has plate glass and aluminum doors shielded by a gray canopy and flanked by lanterns, none of which are original. The water table and stone entrance surround have been painted gray.
History: Erected in 1917 for the 650 West End Avenue Corporation, this apartment building was designed by the prolific architectural firm of Schwartz & Gross, whose work is well represented within the district. The building was constructed on the site of five brick-faced rowhouses of five stories each. Selected References: George Bromley, Atlas of the City of New York, Borough of Manhattan (Philadelphia, 1899), vol. 3 plate 11. Andrew S. Dolkart, Letter to LPC Research Staff, LPC Research Files May 7, 1987, 1]. “New West End Avenue Apartment,” Real Estate Record & Guide 99 (Feb. 10, 1917), 198. New York City Department of Taxes Photograph Collection, Municipal Archives and Record Collection, G 2032.