Clinton Housing: West 46 Partners

USA / New Jersey / West New York / West 46th Street, 300
 apartment building, commercial building

5-story residential building originally completed as five 4-story separate structures in 1890. The three facing the avenue had matching facades, as did the two along the west end on 46th Street. They were converted to affordable, subsidized housing in 1998-99. The buildings were merged with a single entrance and an added floor, a front desk, an elevator, a community room and rear yard garden. The new top floor, with a mansard, unifies the structures.

The east facade on 8th Avenue is faced in brownstone above a ground floor of blue metal and glass storefronts. Each of the three storefronts sections is capped by a wide, grey segmental-arch, topped by a cornice that sets off the upper floors. There are three bays of single-windows on the original three facades, each with a surround with bracketed sills and cornices. The 2nd-floor windows at the north end (originally the northernmost of the three facades) have been replaced by two sets of triple-windows, also with cornices. The original roof lines are marked by three matching grey metal cornices with brackets, panels, modillions, and dentils, now surmounted by the metal mansard roof that is punctuated by a row of seven peaked dormers. At the north end, in place of the northern two dormers is a slightly taller tower of red brick, edged with brown stone quoins, which also extend down the northeast corner of the lower floors. The corner tower has paired windows under a brown, rounded pediment, which is repeated on its north face. The tower is capped by a brown metal cornice and pyramidal metal roof.

On the north facade along 46th Street has two main sections. The eastern part is clad in red brick above the ground-floor. Blue metal and glass storefronts continue along the east half of this section, while the west half is faced in rusticated brownstone, with two windows and a doorway. The windows are topped by rounded pediments and the round-arched door is framed by Doric columns on squared bases, supporting an entablature with triangular pediment. This section of the ground floor is capped by a broad, grey metal band and cornice, partially overlapped by the pediment at the doorway.

The 3rd & 4th floor has nine bays of single-windows, the easternmost one spaced farther apart. At the 2nd floor, three pairs are combined into triple-windows, and the east end also has a triple-window. All the windows have brown, bracketed sills and eared cornices. A matching roof cornice to the east facade continues all the way across the section of the north facade, topped by the mansard 5th floor; there are seven peaked dormers to the right of the corner tower.

The western part of the north facade was originally two separate brownstone townhomes, set back from the building line. They retain their original stoops leading up to round-arched doorways at the parlor floor. To the left of each stoop are paired English-basement windows, and to the left of the doorways are paired round-arched windows with wrought-iron railings across their bases and keystones at the tops. Large keystones also top the doorways, and the parlor floor level is capped by a cornice. The upper floors have two bays of windows with full surrounds with bracketed sills and cornices. A pair of metal roof cornices, very similar to those on the east building sections, cap the 4th floor, topped by a mansard roof with four dormers.

The complex contains a total of 70 apartment units. The ground floors are occupied by A Slice of New York pizza cafe, All'Antico Vinaio sandwich shop, and Bistro 46.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   40°45'35"N   73°59'18"W
This article was last modified 2 years ago