HBS Building

 office building, commercial building

217-foot, 16-story Neo-Gothic office building completed in 1925. Designed by Schwartz & Gross, the 5-bay facade is clad in beige brick and terra-cotta. The ground floor has entrances at both ends, under segmental-arches with rosettes in square panels. The east arch has modern stainless-steel and glass infill, with the main entrance, while the west arch has an older service entrance. Glass-and-metal storefronts fill the space in between, with a red box awning topped by a black metal band at the east and glass at the west. The piers around the entrances have Gothic ornament, ending in points at the top of the base (above the arches). Between the upper parts of the piers, and also along the middle, are terra-cotta bands divided into a long row of rectangles with Gothic edges; shields are located at the two middle piers.

The upper floors have brick piers with terra-cotta edges, organizing the facade into three main bays of 4-over-3 windows, and two ends bays of 2-over-3 windows at the 2nd & 3rd floors. The terra-cotta spandrels between the two floors have shields in the centers and quatrefoils at the ends. The floors above have three windows in the middle bays (separated by thin brick pilasters), and paired windows in the end bays. The full-bay spandrels below the 4th floor have rows of pointed-arches, while the spandrels above are smaller, broken by each pilaster; those in the middle bays each have three panels, and those at the end bays have two, with differing patterns making up the panels on alternating floors.

Large shields decorate the tops of the piers at the 7th floor, where the bays set back, except for the middle bay, which sets back above the 9th floor. The setbacks are marked by projecting band courses with rows of rosettes on the undersides. The end bays set back again above the 11th floor, while the two other middle bays also set back along with the center bay above the 9th floor, and then again at the 11th floor, while the center bay extends to the 13th floor, where it is crowned by a gilded parapet, peaked in the center, with small turrets at the ends. The end bays also have projecting turrets at either end of the 11th-floor setbacks. The paired-window end bays create projecting pavilions extending up to the roof life, with the middle of the facade recessed in between. The windows on the top floor are pointed-arched. The ground floor is occupied by 5th Avenue Dollar & Discount, and Matto Espresso.