Lefcourt Marlboro Building (New York City, New York) | office building, commercial building

 office building, commercial building

247-foot, 20-story Neo-Gothic office building completed in 1925. Designed by George & Edward Blum for Abraham Lefcourt, it was originally a garment manufacturing building. It's name comes from the site, on which formerly stood the Marlboro Hotel. The building is clad in brown brick above a 3-story limestone base. Both main facades are seven bays wide, and above the ground floor the southeast corner is chamfered. It is believed that an additional four floors were added in 1944 to a design by James W. O'Connor.

The main entrance is at the center of the Broadway side, framed in brass and polished granite and topped by a brass canopy. On either side are storefronts in various styles on modernization. The three to the left have restored brass frames and doors. There is a freight entrance at the west end of the 36th Street facade, a secondary entrance topped by metal louver vents (now closed with traffic redirected to the main entrance), and a small storefront in between, all three framed by green marble piers. The ground floor is capped by a cornice with modillions ornamented by rosettes at the ends and a patterned band along the top.

The 2nd-3rd floors have double-height fluted pilasters with Corinthian capitals between bays, doubled around the bay closest to the southeast corner on both facades. The chamfered corner bay, with single-windows, is also framed by the same style of pilasters. All the main bays have tripartite windows with black iron frames, and black iron spandrels with decorative castings separate the floors within each bay. Above the main entrance, between the 2nd & 3rd floors, the two piers framing the center bay are ornamented with iron gargoyle faces. A stone band runs across the top of the 3rd floor, with the inscription "LEFCOURT MARLBORO BUILDING" carved at the center of both facades, surmounted by a cornice.

The upper floors have three windows in each bay, divided by narrow brick pilasters. The end bays nearest the southeast corner are both flanked by bays of single-windows, and the corner bay has paired windows at each floor. The brick spandrels are dotted with projecting brick headers, except for at the single-window bays near the corner.

A broad stone band course tops the 16th floor, with a small setback at the northernmost and westernmost bays, and deeper setbacks at the center five bays on both facades, as well as at the corner bay. Above this setback, the corner bay is wider, but still has two windows per floor; the single-window bays end at the setback. Otherside, the 17th-19th floors are similar to those below. Another small setback occurs above the 19th floor, all the way across both main facades, and the roof line is capped by geometric figures on a band course. There are multiple mechanical penthouses on the roof.

The north elevation, rising above the shorter neighboring building, is also clad in brown brick, with four bays of matching design to the main facades, but without setbacks. The north half of the west elevation is plainer, without decoration. It has two bays of three windows at the north, and another bay of two windows south of these. The south part of the west elevation extends slightly further, and abuts the neighboring building on 36th Street.

A 1968 renovation covered up the original lobby ceiling, which was dramatically vaulted and teeming with decorative rosette panels. It was restored in 2004. New marble floors and walls were also installed. The ground floor is occupied by The UPS Store, Metropolitan Commercial Bank, a Starbucks coffee, and Wolfgang's Steakhouse.