48 West 37th Street

 office building  Add category

222-foot, 18-story office building completed in 1926. Designed by Schwartz & Gross, it is clad in buff-colored brick above a 3-story limestone base. The facade has four main bays, the eastern three of which are symmetrical, and a shorter western bay that only rises five floors. Each of the bays of the base has iron and glass infill, with the main entrance in the easternmost bay, where glass doors are framed by polished black granite and stainless steel. To the left of the doorway is a recessed service entrance with black metal doors. The other three bays have storefronts.

At the 2nd & 3rd floors, the three eastern bays have bands of six windows, with short transoms, in black iron frames, while the western bay has only four panes. Between the floors of the base are rust-red colored iron spandrels decorated with rows of ovals. The top two floors of the western bay (the 4th & 5th) each have four windows separated by black iron mullions. The eastern three bays consist of a middle bay with three windows in the center, divided by black iron mullions, flanked by single-windows that are separated by brick pilasters. The two bays on either side, separated by the main piers, each have four windows divided by black iron mullions.

At the 9th floor the piers have projecting, paired, octagonal engaged columns with binding-like bases and tops, and similar but shorter columns are located above each mullion and pilaster in the bays (except for the two center mullions in the middle bay). The columns continue up the piers framing the middle bay, and also appear on the pilasters at the 10th-11th floors; this bay sets back above the 11th floor. The two flanking bays set back above the 10th floor. This begins a series of four cascading setbacks up to the top floors, each topped by a simple stone coping.

The west elevation is clad in brown brick above the short western bay, with five bays of double-windows, the outer two of which narrow to single-windows at the 2nd setback, and then end at the 4th setback. The east elevation is also clad in brown brick, and has a bay of double-windows at the front, narrowing to two floors of single-windows at the 2nd setback. Toward the middle of the elevation is a narrow light court lined with single-windows. The ground floor is occupied by Bingo 55, Dunkin' Donuts, Exist Fashion, and Columbia Omnicorp office and craft supplies.