Islamic Cultural Center - Riverside Drive

 place with historical importance, mosque

The first Islamic Center started functioning on a small scale from a modest townhouse
by American architect C. P. H. Gilbert
The land at the curving corner of 72nd Street and Riverside Drive was owned by John S. Sutphen in 1899.
As Sutphen entered negotiations with the Prentisses on April 3, 1899, he added further stipulations. Within two years of April 3 they were to have completed a “first class building adapted for and which shall be used only as a private residence for one family.” Sutphen went further by dictating that residence must “conform to the plan thereof made by C. P. H. Gilbert, Architect.”

Five stories tall, the limestone-clad mansion featured an American basement, the height of fashion at the time. Guests entered through a portico with Ionic columns above a short flight of steps. From its rusticated base the Beaux Arts house rose to a magnificent mansard that sprouted a squat turret, tall chimneys, pedimented dormers and balconies. Gilbert followed the curve of the drive with a bowed façade and took advantage of the odd lot to provide a full wall of windows on the southern, garden side.

Now is condo appartment building