Aman New York Hotel & Residences (New York City, New York)

 hotel, skyscraper, condominiums, interesting place, commercial building

416-foot, 25-story Neo-Classical office building completed in 1921. Designed by Warren & Wetmore, it was built for developer August Hecksher. In 1929, the Museum of Modern Art opened its first gallery here in rented rooms on the 12th floor. In the 1960s it was known as the Genesco Building and again renamed in 1983 as the Crown Building.

The building main bulk is at the northeast corner of the block, with a lower, 6-story section wrapping around the buildings to the south and extending to 56th Street, where the a secondary entrance is located. This section is clad in beige brick above a 2-story limestone base, five bays wide, with triple-windows in the middle bays, paired windows in the west end bay, and bands of four windows in the east end bay, all with upper transom panes. The entrance is in the east bay, with glass double-doors flanked by plate-glass windows and rope moldings. Thee are metal-and-glass storefronts to the left, with rounded upper corners, and service entrances at the west end. Above the main entrance at the east end, the 2nd floor has a large plate-glass window in a beveled surround with rounded corners and rope moldings. A gilded band course sets off the upper floors, and a modillioned cornice caps the 6th floor.

The main building section at the northeast is clad in limestone on the 9-story base, and beige brick on the upper tower. The lower floors have five bays along the avenue and eight along 57th Street. The south bay on the avenue has the main entrance, with deeply-recessed glass-and-bronze double-doors below a glass-and-bronze round-arch. The edges of the recessed opening are beveled, with rounded corners, and framed by projecting pilasters with gilded ornament, topped by slender engaged columns with gilded spirals, carrying an entablature above the entrance, with metal lettering reading "THE CROWN BUILDING". A dentiled cornice tops the entablature, surmounted by three arched niches with gilded statues. The four bays to the north have double-height openings with rounded corners and plate-glass storefronts. The north bay is wider than the others. On the north facade on 57th the end bays are both wider, and the four eastern bays have double-height storefronts like those on the east facade. The western four bays have black cast-iron spandrels dividing the two floors, with storefronts at the ground floor, and either tripartite or plate-glass windows at the 2nd floor. A modillioned cornice with an egg-and-dart molding caps the 2nd floor.

The upper floors of the base section have 18 evenly-spaced single-windows on the north facade, and 11 on the east facade. The transitional 3rd floor has tripartite windows with rounded upper corners, and is capped by a band course with gilded borders, projecting at the top. At the northeast corner a gilded, spiral end piece begins, continuing on the floors above and culminating in a round pedestral and gold statue at the 9th floor. Another band course with gilded upper and lower bands sets off the 9th floor. The middle bays on both facades have gilded gold spandrel panels ornamented with fleur-de-lis patterns between the floors, and the 9-story base is topped by a projecting, modillioned band course with a rounded northeast corner, surmounted by a baluster railing.

The upper tower is set back on the west, north, and east sides, with the west and east sides setting back again above the 13th floor. The north and south faces of the tower span 10 single-windows, with all but the end bays having gilded spandrels. The east and west elevations have six single-windows, also with gilded spandrels at the middle bays. There is a band course below the 21st floor, and a crenelated parapet topping it, where the shaft set backs again at the west, north, and east sides. The 22nd-24th floors are square in plan, with four single-windows on each elevation, and chamfered corners each with a single-window. The 24th floor has terra-cotta detailing, and there is a band course setting of the 25th floor, which is slightly more recessed. The steep, French Renaissance octagonal tower section of the crown is very striking, rising from the 25th floor with copper cladding, elaborate dormers on each side, parapets and a 4-story chimney stack at the southwest corner. An original weathervane in the form of a rooster was removed in 1942 and melted down as part of the war effort.

The ground floor is occupied by Bulgari jewelers, and was renovated in 2017. The new, grand entrance to the retail space features a glass door in a glass-and-bronze round-arch, framed by white-and-black marble, in turn set within a majestic, cross-hatched, golden caged structure with flower shapes at the intersection of the cross hatches; there are two display niches flanking the door. The intricate gold façade is inspired by a Bulgari bracelet from the 1930s. The other bays sport the same gold cage screen, with smaller display-windows framed in marble.

In 20201, the building was converted to to designs by Jean-Michel Gathy for OKO Group as a hotel and condominium. The Aman Hotel will be housed from floors four through 24. Directly above will be 22 condominiums. The Aman Spa will span nearly 25,000 square feet and feature a 20-meter indoor swimming pool surrounded by fire pits and daybeds, two spa houses with a double treatment room, sauna and steam rooms, and an outdoor terrace with cabana, daybed, and fireplace.

It 2016, plans were announced to convert most of the building into 26 condominiums on the 11th through 26th floors, with a 5-story penthouse occupying the castle-like crown. The first three floors are devoted to retail and a hotel lobby. A New York outpost of the luxury hotel brand Amanresorts International is planned for the tower, with hotel rooms will beginning on the 4th floor and continuing through the 9th floor, for a total of 79 guest rooms. The 7th floor hosts a pool, spa, treatment rooms, and lockers, and the 8th floor has a gym. There is a restaurant on the 9th floor, a lounge on the 10th, and hotel offices on the 11th floor. The residential section is branded as Aman New York Residences.

Two smaller storefronts south of Bulgari are occupied by Piaget boutique and Mikimodo jewelry, with Ermenegildo Zegna to the west of the Bulgari space.

www.aman.com/hotels/aman-new-york
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