The Adlon (New York City, New York)

 Art Nouveau / Jugendstil (architecture), cooperative, apartment building, 1912_construction

151-foot, 12-story Arts & Crafts/Art-Noveau-style cooperative-apartment building completed in 1912. Designed by George and Edward Blum, it actually consists of two joined structures by the same architects, completed a year apart. The south building was first called the Aljomar Apartments, a combination of Al, Joe & Morris - named for the developers, Alexander Pincus, Joseph Graf, and Morris Goldstone. The Adlon was named after the famous Hotel Adlon in Berlin, and the name now serves both joined buildings, which were converted to a cooperative in 1989, and fully renovated in 1999.

The mixed Arts & Crafts styles of the building, with Secessionist elements, display a full spectrum of colors and materials -- tile, cast-stone, glazed and tinted brick. The Aljomor's facade was a sheer wall of tapestry brick, with inset tile and brick designs and a modest cornice. The Adlon has a fuller facade with irregular tinted panels, perhaps tile or cast stone, crowned by a giant coffered cornice in copper rising from of a screen of giant fluted pilasters, also in copper. Both buildings had spectacular entry marquees made of -- to judge from photographs -- intricately worked copper in complex floral designs, with pendant light fixtures. In 1932 the lobbies were connected and the entrance at the Aljomor was eliminated and converted to retail space.

The north building is clad in reddish brown brick (with multi-colored ornament) above a 2-story base of grey stone. The main entrance is at the center of the north facade's seven bays. The glass double-doors are surrounding decorative glass-and-metal framework is slightly recessed and set within a granite surround with a double molding - one lining the interior edges of the recessed area, and the other at the outer edge, both with elaborate patterned carvings. There are a pair of wall-mounted lanterns between the two moldings. There are three tripartite windows to the west of the entrance, and one similar opening on the east (now replaced with a plate-glass window), with a plate-glass storefront taking up the eastern two bays at the ground floor. The 2nd floor has tripartite windows in all seven bays, with black iron mullions and railings across the bases of the windows. The piers between the bays have square panels at the top of the 2nd floor, with cast-stone painted red, yellow and blue-green in whirling geometric patterns. The broad stone cornice capping the base is underlined by a colorful, whimsical frieze, while a similar frieze runs along the top of the cornice, which is highlighted by red-and-blue shields topped by yellow floral patterns, inscribed in circles, located at each bay.

The east facade along the avenue matches, spanning for eight bays, with storefronts along the ground floor. The storefront taking up the four southern bays has a metal-and-glass extension projecting out into the sidewalk, with a sloping metal roof topped by an awning. It contains a restaurant, with central wooden double-doors recessed within the extension. Above the awning is a black sign board, divided into two halves by a block face at its center.

The upper floors continue the pattern of tripartite windows with black iron mullions. The 3rd floor has colorful cast-stone enframements around the windows, with floral patterns. Above each window but below the top of the enframement is a beige stone band with four cast-stone plaques. Differing plaques are located on the piers between each bay. Above each enframement are broad stone sills for the 4th-floor windows, decorated by alternating ornament of two small blue tiles laid vertically with horizontal pairs of larger, beige square tiles. The floors above have simpler stone sills, underlined by simple triangle tiles at some floors, flanking small rectangular plaques. The windows also all have brick lintels. At the 10th floor the piers have more decorative tiling with geometric patterns.

A pressed-metal cornice above the 10th floor sets off the building's crown. Rising from this cornice are 2-story fluted, pressed-copper pilasters with capitals reminiscent of the Ionic order, but with Arts & Crafts details. Above the spandrels between the 11th & 12th floors, ornamented with more Arts & Crafts plaques and tiles, the 12th-floor windows have shallow, projecting, tripartite iron balconies. Matching spandrels top the 12th floor, surmounted by round-arches filled by more Arts & Crafts detailing. Rising around these arches are bases that form the prominent and highly patterned copper roof cornice flares outward in a broad curve.

The south building, originally the Aljomor, is smaller, spanning only four bays on its front facade. It is clad in brown brick above a limestone ground floor. Between the piers are four glass-and-metal storefronts. The upper floors have double-windows in the outer bays and slightly-projecting tripartite windows in the middle bays, all with stone sills. There is a vertical line of recessed brick in each of the piers, and at the end piers are also square colored tiles with geometric flower patterns, connected by vertical lines of brickwork with pairs of smaller tiles. The spandrels between the floors in the outer bays have diagonal brickwork with pairs of colored flower tiles. Each of the rick spandrels in the middle bays (with angled sides and a projecting, flat front) have five decorative tile pieces - a circular center ornament with a cross, flanked by small tiles and then larger diamond shapes. At the top two floors the middle bays are flat instead of projecting. There is no roof cornice capping the south building, merely a simple continuation of the brick and tilework of the piers.

The south facade is also clad in brick. The front wall has two bays of single-window openings, but the rear one has been filled-in. Floral tile patterns, connected by vertical band with smaller tiles, line both sides of this front wall. There is a short, angled with a bay of single-windows connecting to the set-back rear section of the south facade, which has a bay of double-windows, followed by multiple bays of single and paired windows. At the ground floor this facade is fronted by a dark-grey brick wall covered partially by ivy. A large advertising sign covers the front wall from the 2nd-5th floors.

The building has a total of 128 apartments which are managed by Orsid New York. The ground floor is occupied by Lili's Bake Shop, Roxy Delicatessen, Dunkin' Donuts, and Big Apple Souvenirs and Gifts.