16 East 40th Street

 office building  Add category

133-foot, 12-story office building completed in 1911. Designed by C.H. Caldwell, it extends through the block to 39th Street, with a narrow wing half the width of the north facade. The north side is clad in limestone with a 2-story base. The ground floor has been re-faced in dark-grey polished granite with a recessed main entrance on the west side, and a storefront entrance at the east, with plate-glass storefront windows in the middle. The 2nd floor is rusticated with a wide window band in the middle, and end bays with single-windows in full stone surrounds; the western window is replaced by metal louvers. A band course with wave-motif above a frieze lined by egg-and-dart moldings at top and bottom caps the base.

The upper floors on the north facade have single-windows in the end bays. The middle bay has three windows at the 3rd floor, while the 4th-10th floors consist of a triple-windows in black metal framing, divided by black iron pilasters, and with ornamented black iron spandrels between floors. A shallow segmental-arch caps the middle bay at the top of the 10th floor. There is a projecting stone balcony at the 11th floor. The facade is crowned by a modillioned stone roof cornice.

The narrow south facade is clad in brown brick above a 3-story white-painted limestone base. The 1st-2nd floors are framed by rusticated piers; the ground floor has an entrance on the left and a small storefront on the right. The 2nd floor has a tripartite window opening, with the western pane replaced by metal louvers. The 2nd floor is capped by an ornate cornice with pairs of small lions' heads at the ends, above the frieze with swags on the ends and egg-and-dart moldings lining the top and bottom. The 3rd floor has three single-windows and is topped by a band course with a decorative molding.

The upper floors have triple-windows between the brick end piers, divided by black iron pilasters. The windows have stone sills and lintels, and the center spandrel between each floor is accented with a small stone diamond shape. A shallow segmental-arch ends the window bay at the 10th floor. There is a projecting stone balcony at the 11th floor, with a wrought-iron railing. The piers framing the top two floors have recessed panels along their centerlines, and the recessed triple-windows are again divided by black iron pilasters. The facade is crowned by a modest stone roof cornice.

The ground floor is occupied by David's Deals dollar store.