AKA Times Square Hotel (New York City, New York)

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150-foot, 13-story German-Renaissance hotel completed in 1894. Designed by George Keister, it opened as the Gerard Hotel (an apartment hotel), and later operated as the Langwell Hotel and 1-2-3 Hotel. The property declined through the decades, and by the time Seymour B. Durst owned it in the 1970s, it was a squalid, welfare hotel (when it was known as the 1-2-3). In 2007 the building was renovated and restored by Korman Communities as AKA Times Square – a post residential hotel of 105 suites, including duplex penthouses with terraces.

The building has a 2-story limestone base that supports 11 floors faced with tawny brown Roman brick. The rusticated base originally had a columned portico across most of the facade, which was removed in 1917 and replaced with storefronts. The deeply-recessed main entrance, as well as the less-recessed storefront entrances, are each approached by a set of granite steps. The storefront are now modern metal-and-glass, and the ground floor is capped by a dentiled cornice. The 2nd floor remains intact, with paired rectangular windows in the four outer bays, and three narrower windows in the two center bays. A projecting stone band course caps the 2nd floor, supported at the center bays by scrolled brackets, the outer of which support carved foliate panels.

The upper floors, with their rounded, projecting bays, have a strong vertical emphasis that culminates in the steep gables and tall dormers. The 3rd-6th floors form a single unit. The two central bays of this 6-bay wide unit are composed in two sections. The 3rd & 4th floors are faced with white terra-cotta and ornamented Ionic pilasters. The shafts of the central pilasters are embellished with anthemia. A continuous stone balcony runs below the 2nd floor and two round balconies project above the 4th floor. The 5th & 6th floors of this central section are comprised of 3-sided, angular, brick bays separated by single Corinthian pilasters with decorated shafts. Flanking the central bays are three rectangular windows with splayed brick lintels. Simple terra-cotta cornices crown each bay.

The 7th floor is the focal point of the midsection of the building and serves as a transition between the more restrained lower floors and the more complex upper floors and ornate roof line. In the center of this floor are two broad round-arches that spring from the central pilasters described above. Three round-arched windows and two blind roundels are set within each arch. The arch spandrels are ornately decorated with terra-cotta foliage and a large central anthemion. To either side of the wide arches rise 2-story bowed oriels that rest on elaborate terra-cotta corbels. These flank the flat 8th & 9th floors of the central section which are simply articulated by tall Ionic pilasters. Above these pilasters is a transitional 10th floor with short Ionic pilasters that support a cornice from which rise the spectacular central dormers.

The dormers project from a mansard roof and each contains a 2-story arched window flanked by Ionic columns and crowned by a deep cornice that is surmounted by a raised arched pediment. The dormers are flanked by low pedestals supported by pilaster. Nine urn pinnacles project from the dormers and pedestals. Flanking these dormers are the steeply-pitched 3-story gables that are articulated by contrasting terra-cotta bands of varying widths. The gabled and mansard roofs were originally enhanced by tall end chimneys, but these have been removed. The gables and mansard roofs were originally clad with Spanish tile that has also been removed. The side walls, partially visible from the street, are faced in common brick and have no notable ornamental decoration.

The ground floor is occupied by Cafe Un Deux Trois, and Hunt & Fish Club restaurant.

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