Crystal Building
USA /
New Jersey /
West New York /
Second Avenue, 801
World
/ USA
/ New Jersey
/ West New York
World / United States / New York
office building, high-rise, Art Deco (architecture), 1930_construction
292-foot, 21-story Art-Deco office building completed in 1930. Designed by George and Edward Blum, it is clad in tan brick above a 2-story beige granite base. The east facade on the avenue has four bays, and the north facade on 43rd Street has three. The main entrance is in the 2nd bay from the south on the avenue, with four stair-stepping setbacks on each side leading back to a recessed glass doorway. The other bays have storefronts, except for the west bay on 43rd Street, which has a metal service door and metal vents at the 2nd floor. The two middle bays on the east facade are covered by beige and brown metal canopies with ornamental corners, extending out over the sidewalk. The 2nd floor bays are filled with large tripartite windows. At the top of the base, the piers have simple Art-Deco styled capitals joined by a simple cornice.
The upper floors have three windows in each bay. The middle bays have vertical grooves running up the piers, and the spandrels are slightly-recessed, with the brick laid vertically and featuring patterns of recessed bricks within each panel. A cascading series of small setbacks on both facades begins above the 13th floor, and running up to the 21st-floor, above which rises a tall mechanical penthouse. The top two setbacks, and alternating setbacks below, are marked by Art-Deco finials in white cast-stone, which also crown the upper roof line on the penthouse. The walls of the mechanical penthouse are brick, with three tall, vertical openings on the east face, filled by metal panels with a zig-zag pattern. An additional such opening is at the east end of the north face, with the west end recessed and having two levels of narrow single-windows.
The Crystal Building is home to many foreign consulates, permanent UN Missions and the offices of inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations. The ground floor is occupied by Patsy's Pizzeria, and a Chase Bank branch.
The upper floors have three windows in each bay. The middle bays have vertical grooves running up the piers, and the spandrels are slightly-recessed, with the brick laid vertically and featuring patterns of recessed bricks within each panel. A cascading series of small setbacks on both facades begins above the 13th floor, and running up to the 21st-floor, above which rises a tall mechanical penthouse. The top two setbacks, and alternating setbacks below, are marked by Art-Deco finials in white cast-stone, which also crown the upper roof line on the penthouse. The walls of the mechanical penthouse are brick, with three tall, vertical openings on the east face, filled by metal panels with a zig-zag pattern. An additional such opening is at the east end of the north face, with the west end recessed and having two levels of narrow single-windows.
The Crystal Building is home to many foreign consulates, permanent UN Missions and the offices of inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations. The ground floor is occupied by Patsy's Pizzeria, and a Chase Bank branch.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 40°45'1"N 73°58'19"W
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