42 West 48th Street

 office building, commercial building

188-foot, 16-story office building completed in 1929. It is clad in buff-colored brick above a 2-story tan marble base. The facade is divided into a wide east bay and narrower west bay that contains the main entrance. It is recessed, with brass-and-glass double-doors with sidelights and transom, next to a brass service door. The marble ceiling above the entrances angled back and down to the doors, carved with palm figures; to the left is a tall, dark-brown metal-and-glass storefront with a central entrance. The 2nd floor is separated by a broad, black metal band at the wide bay, and has a band of eight windows divided by dark-brown iron mullions. The narrow bay has a band of three wider windows also separated by iron mullions. The base is capped by a stone band course with swags and dentils.

The upper floors have the same arrangement of window bands as on the 2nd floor, with stone sills consisting of bands of swags. The wide east bay sets back above the 8th floor, and the west bay has a shallower setback above the 10th. The east bay has additional setbacks above the 11th & 14th floors, while the west bay has alternating deeper and shallow setbacks above the 11th, 13th, & 14th floors. There is a mechanical penthouse at the west side of the roof and a round water tower on the east.

The upper floors of the rear and east elevations are clad in red brick with three bays of triple-windows (at the rear) and double-windows flanked by single-windows (at the east facade). The rear facade has a setback above the 14th floor. The ground floor is occupied by Sean's Bar & Kitchen.