American Union Bank Building

USA / New Jersey / West New York / West 37th Street, 265
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275-foot, 24-story Neo-Classical office building completed in 1925. Designed by Schwartz & Gross for the American Union Bank, who took a 21-year lease on the ground floor when the building was completed; the upper floors were leased to firms in the needle industry. There are five bays on both the west and south facades, clad in brown brick above a 3-story limestone base.

The modernized main entrance is in the middle bay on 37th Street, with glass doors recessed between polished stone in three colors: grey at the bottom, black in the middle, and a taller red section at the top. The other bays have storefronts at the ground floor. The 2nd & 3rd floors have tripartite windows with thin black or brown metal framing and dentiled sills. The 3rd-story window at the 2nd bay from the east on 37th Street has been replaced by a grid of 5-over-3 panes. Intricately carved stone spandrels between the 2nd & 3rd floors feature grape bunches and vines. The base is capped by a cast-stone course with roundels.

The upper floors have three windows in each bay, with uninterrupted brick piers and pilasters. Each window has a stone sill and brick header. Setbacks begin at different levels at the top floors, starting at the 17th floor, creating the effect of a central tower on both facades. The setback areas are more ornamental than the lower floors. The first setbacks at either end of both facades are marked by groups of four double-height round stone columns supporting a portion of a Spanish tile roof. Elsewhere the setbacks are marked by blind arcades. The facades in these upper levels are much more elaborate than in the lower floors, including wide brick piers with inventive cast-stone capitals and geometric brick patterning. A glassed-in roof shaped like a mansard rises at the very top.

The ground floor is occupied by a gift shop, Ebad Fabrics, Dunkin' Donuts, Ramini Espresso Bar, El Sabroso restaurant, and a small convenience mart.
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Coordinates:   40°45'15"N   73°59'29"W
This article was last modified 2 years ago