The Concerto (New York City, New York)

 high-rise, apartment building, 1991_construction

337-foot, 35-story postmodern residential building completed in 1991. Designed by Schuman, Lichtenstein, Claman & Efron, it is across Amsterdam Avenue from the same developer's much larger South Park Tower rental building. This building has a more symmetrical top and rather traditional balconies as compared to those at South Park Tower, but it is not without its own idiosyncrasies. Its shaft is asymmetrical and it has an unusual pattern of corner windows some of which go up from the base only partially at one corner and down only partially from the top at another. The tower is placed near at the north side of the lot, with a 12-story midrise wing extending to the south and forming an eastern enclosure for a courtyard on 59th Street.

The building is clad in red brick, dark-grey glass, and green metal accents. The courtyard is set behind a red brick wall and topped by dark-green iron fencing, with a gateway near the building's south wing. Ramps and stairs lead up into the courtyard proper, which includes a fountain and playground. At the west end is an entrance and exit to the underground parking garage.

The west wall of the 12-story wing has four bays of windows beginning above the tall ground floor; the windows have two panes, with one narrow and one wider, and the middle two bays are grouped closer together. White exposes floor plates define each story. At the south end there is an end bay that projects out farther to the west, with tripartite windows. It lacks the exposed floorplates, and has subtle brick banding at the southwest corner. The double-height ground floor has a green-metal-and-glass storefront. On the south facade, there are two main bays with a very narrow bay in between, each framed by wide, banded piers at the base, with beige stone accents. Above the ground floor, there are single-windows in the middle bay, and pairs of double-windows in the outer bays, with the banding continuing on the end piers. At the 11th & 12th floors, set off by a pair of string courses, there are green metal spandrels at the outer bays, and grey metal panels replaced the brick piers between the two double-windows.

On the east facade along the avenue, the 12-story wing spans 11 bays to the north, where there is a 2-bay section that sets back above the 3rd floor to the main tower rising up behind, and then continues as another 12-story section at the north end for four more bays. Storefronts line the whole ground floor, with piers matching those on the south facade. The restaurant at the north end has a projecting seating section with a sloped, green metal roof. Beige stone string courses set off the 2nd floor, and top the 3rd floor. From south to north, the bays are grouped into pairs and have: two double-windows, a double- and tripartite window, a single- and tripartite window, a tripartite and double-window, a double- and tripartite window, and then one bay of tripartite windows. The two bays below the setback (and continuing above it) have asymmetrical double-windows. The four northern bays have three tripartite windows and asymmetrical double-windows in the end bay. Metal air-conditioning vents below the windows are painted to match the red brick. Again, the 11th & 12th floor have green metal spandrels between the floors in each bay, the piers between the pairs of bays are banded, and the piers between the bays in each pair have the brick replaced by green metal panels. A grey metal cornice caps the 12th floor.

The north facade of the 12-story base has four bays with narrow storefronts at the tall ground floor. The upper floors have tripartite windows in the middle two bays, and double-windows in the end bays. The banded pier at the west end is narrower than the others. The main tower is set back to the west of the 12-story section; the west-facing sidewall of the mid-rise base has a bay of double-windows at the rear, where it joins with the tower facade. The tower's main entrance projects out to the sidewalk in a 1-story vestibule in brick and stone matching the rest of the design. The glass-and-metal double-doors are framed by windows and a glass transom covered by a peaked, glass-and-metal canopy extending out to the sidewalk. The entry vestibule is crowned by a green metal cornice, below which are two projecting flagpoles. Low brick retaining walls on either side enclose landscaping. The street slopes downward to the west, where the brick walls grow taller, recessing back at the end to a freight entrance topped by landscaping.

Above the entrance, the main north facade of the tower has a tripartite window bay at the left, a projecting center section with two bays of asymmetrical double-windows, and western bays consisting of triple-windows, joined double-windows, a narrow single-windows, and a recessed bay of double-windows. As the tower rises above the 12-story east wing, it includes eastern bays of double-windows, single-windows, and an end bay of tripartite windows that wraps around the northeast corner. The tower has exposed floorplates and -- like the rest of the building -- green metal window framing and painted vents. Green metal panels replace the brick of the center pier at the 11th & 12th floors, as well as the spandrels at the two projecting center bays. From the 13th floor, the narrow single-window bay on the west changes to double-windows, and there are no window openings at the recessed western end bay, until they begin again at the 28th floor. Projecting concrete balconies with green metal railings flank the projecting center bays from the 14th-27th floors. All of the outer bays except for the west end bay set back above the 27th floor; the two center bays continue up to the 31st floor before setting back. While the end bays and most of the center bays remain predominately brick at these floors, the other bays have a curtain wall of glass and green metal. The 29th-31st floors have projecting balconies to either side of the center section. There is another setback above the 31st floor, and another set of balconies closer to the middle at the 33rd-35th floors, where the end bays are still brick, framing the curtain wall section in between. A brick-clad water tower enclosure rises from the center of the roof.

The south facade of the tower is very similar to the north. The east facade, rising above the midrise section, has two middle bays of tripartite windows, flanked by bays of French doors fronted by balconies, and end bays of double-windows wrapping around the corners. The outer bays have a deep setback above the 27th floor; from here the facade transitions to the curtain wall design, except for a brick center pier, and some brick spandrels at the center bays. There is another setback across the full facade above the 31st floor. The west facade has no balconies, unlike the other sides. It has a projecting center section with a bay of single-windows at the north, and three bays of double-windows to the south. Framing this are recessed end bays of double-windows that wrap around the corners. The end bays set back above the 27th floor, and all set back above the 31st.

The tower contains 248 apartment units, while the 12-story south wing has 132 staff housing units for St. Luke’s/Roosevelt Hospital. The ground floor along the avenue is occupied by a Duane-Reade by Walgreens Pharmacy, and Emmy Squared Pizza.