Jefferson Towers (New York City, New York)

USA / New Jersey / West New York / New York City, New York / Columbus Avenue, 700
 apartment building  Add category

233-foot, 21-story modernist cooperative-apartment building completed in 1968. Designed by Horace Ginsbern & Associates, the tower is faced in cast-in-place concrete and dark-brown brick, rising from a 1- and 2-story base from which it is set back. The base is split into two sections, with the south half entirely consisting of one floor, with brown brick cladding and metal-and-glass storefronts, and a concrete band across the top. On the south facade there is one storefront bay at the east end and three at the west. There is a gap between the south and north sections of the base, through which the tower's main entrance is approached via a wide set of steps and a ramp interspersed with landscaping. The entrance has sliding glass-and-metal doors with metal lettering above reading the building's name and address. The north section of the base has two floors, as the avenue slopes down toward the intersection at the northeast corner. The ground floor has the same brown brick, with more storefronts, and a broad band of beige, ribbed concrete on top. The 2nd floor is clad in silver metal paneling, corrugated at the lower part, where six small windows face the avenue, and with a metal railing along the top. This continues at the east end of the north facade on 95th Street, where there are three more windows on the 2nd floor. The rest of the north base is only 1-story, with a projecting concrete section in the middle that has a metal railing, and a concrete band across the west section, which contains another commercial space, a set of grey metal service doors, and an entrance and exit to the underground parking garage at the far west end.

The tower, set back from the base, has three center bays on the west and east sides, separated by thin concrete piers, each with two sets of triple-windows and spandrels of brown brick and concrete. White metal mullions divide the two triple-windows within each bay, and the center bay of the three is recessed between the other two. Flanking these are two recessed sections with projecting concrete balconies and glass railings, alternating by floor either a central balcony six railing panes wide or two 3-pane balconies at the ends. The end panes of each balcony overlaps those of the alternating balconies above and below it. The ends of the facade are ribbed concrete, with a bay of narrow single-windows next to the balcony sections.

The north and south facades end bays with double-windows and brick spandrels. In the middle is a projecting bay of triple-windows flanked by a double-window bay on each side, all with brown brick spandrels.

The building contains 190 apartments. The south base is occupied by Family Dentistry, and a Duane-Reade/Walgreens pharmacy. The north base is occupied by a post office branch, Kumon Math & Reading Center, and Canine Rehab of New York, with the 2nd floor occupied by Gotham Veterinary Center.
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Coordinates:   40°47'31"N   73°58'7"W
This article was last modified 5 years ago