Polanco Brothers Midtown Dispensary | store / shop, postmodern (architecture)

 store / shop, postmodern (architecture)

2.5-story Postmodern retail building originally completed in 1971. It was extensively remodeled in 2007 to resemble a mid-19th-century townhouse, complete with copper mansard roof and attic dormer. The renovations were designed by Jack Michaelson and Charles McCarry for the Nat Sherman company, "Tobacconist to the World". Nat Sherman was founded in 1930 and moved its cigar business here from 500 Fifth Avenue. The facade is clad in limestone, with glass doors at the ground floor flanked by similar-sized windows, and topped by a lintel with the company name and slogan. The 2nd floor has a large round-arch in the center, flanked by narrow windows in stone surrounds, above which are a pair of circular windows with eyebrow lintels. In front of the bottom of the arch stands a panel reading "SINCE 1930", serving as the base for a clock flanked by two cast-iron Native American figures shading their eyes and peering into the distance.

At the top of the 2nd floor, a dentiled cornice projects out forms the base of the steep copper mansard, which is pierced by a single, narrow dormer with a rounded top. The mansard is capped by a cornice and iron cresting. A giant replica cigar is attached to the right side of the facade at the 2nd floor.

The store closed in 2020 but another has reopened in its place.

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