2 West 29th Street

 apartment building  Add category

192-foot, 16-story Neo-Gothic cooperative-apartment building completed in 1928. Designed by Henry I. Oser as a store-and-lofts building, it is clad in limestone and buff-colored brick, with terra-cotta ornament, including gargoyles, grape vines and other gothic carvings. The 3-bay building is set back from the lot line.

The ground floor is painted black, with highly-altered infill. The two western bays have small, projecting storefronts tacked onto the facade. Behind these, the ground floor is topped by an ornate band course with shields and foliate patterns. The two upper floors of the base are clad in limestone, with paired windows in the end bays and three windows in the center bay. Within each bay the windows are separated by small Corinthian columns, with zig-zag patterns on the 2nd floor and spiral patterns on the 3rd floor. The spandrels alternate vertical panels with foliate patterns or small rosettes. At the top of the 3rd floor the piers have capitals with carved kneeling figures.

Between the piers, the band course setting off the upper floors is decorated with foliate patterns. The upper floors are clad in brick; at the edges of each bay, the piers angle back toward the recessed windows. Narrow brick pilasters separate each window, except for at the 4th floor, where the pilasters are paneled stone. The main piers at this floor are decorated with carved panels. The brick spandrels between each bay have three vertical brick panels.

The 12th floor has angled, chamfered piers between each window, highlighted by band courses at the top and bottom. Above each window are large, round medallions. The end bays set back above the 12th floor, with the 3-window center bay extending up another two stories, before also setting back, capped by a rounded parapet with finials. Above the main, set-back roof line at the 16th floor, are additional elevator and equipment penthouses and a tall, round water tower toward the rear-east side.

The eastern elevation is clad in brick with several bays of windows of varied sizes. The western elevation is also brick. There are three bays of double-windows at the rear of the wall, with a few random windows at the front. Above the 5th floor there are eight bays of double-windows filling the whole width of the elevation. The ground floor is occupied by Pine Trading NY.