263 West 38th Street

USA / New Jersey / West New York / West 38th Street, 263
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198-foot, 17-story office building completed in 1926. Designed by George F. Pelham, it is clad in grey-brown brick above a 3-story stone base, six bays wide. Seven, 3-story, uninterrupted beige granite piers, edged in steel, divide the bays at the base. The main entrance is in the 3rd bay from the west, with glass-and-metal doors; the next bay to the east has stainless steel infill and a service entrance; the other bays have metal-and-glass storefronts. There is tall panel of beige granite above the entrance, with the numbers 263 in blue metal. The other bays are topped by tall panels of dark-grey granite, and there are shorter dark-grey granite spandrels above the 2nd & 3rd floors. All the storefronts and spandrels are edges in stainless steel, and the 2nd & 3rd floor bays have tripartite show-windows with wide center panes, also framed in steel.

The upper floors continue the bay organization, each with three windows set in a single opening, with a simple stone sill and brick lintel. The windows are divided by dark-brown metal mullions. The two outer bays on each side set back above the 10th floor, with the middle two bays extending up to the 12th floor before setting back. Ornament at the setbacks includes blind cast-iron arcades and cast-stone coping. There are additional setbacks at the outer bays above the 12th & 14th floors, and at the middle bays above the 14th & 16th floors, with the same ornament, which is also seen at the roof line.

The west elevation is clad in reddish brown brick, except for the front section (running up through the first two sebacks) which is clad in brick matching the front facade. Behind the section is a bay of large, square multi-paned windows, ending at the upper setback. Behind it are three bays of much wider multi-paned windows, the front one framed by a pair of grey metal chimney vents running up to the roof. There is a final rear bay of wide multi-pane windows, ending at the first of the rear facade's two setbacks (at the 10th floor). The ground floor is occupied by Fabrics & Fabrics, Fabrics 38 Inc., and Spandex House.
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Coordinates:   40°45'16"N   73°59'27"W
This article was last modified 5 years ago