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Mayfair Towers Apartments (New York City, New York)

USA / New Jersey / West New York / New York City, New York / West 72nd Street, 15
 high-rise, apartment building, 1963_construction, Modern (architecture)

331-foot, 36-story mid-century-Modern cooperative-apartment building completed in 1963. Designed by Horace Ginsbern & Associates, it was built on what had been the rose garden, the tennis courts and then the parking lot of the Dakota. The facades are mainly clad in white brick.

The central tower, running through the block and running north-south, is flanked by two mid-rise wings at the south end, both of which end at the 22nd floor. There are also two recessed bays at the ends of the wings, both fronted by balconies with metal railings that include square, pale-yellow metal panels (two panels per balcony at the east end bay, and three at the west end bay); both end bays end at the 18th floor.

The south facade is set back from the sidewalk behind landscaping, with an open area at the center with the main entrance. At the ground floor the three wide center bays are clad in black polished granite, with four square piers supporting a shallow granite canopy. Below this the entrance portico extends out from the center bay, framed in black stone with glass-and-steel infill, and having at its end a revolving door and two traditional glass doors. Extending farther from the end of the portico out over the sidewalk is a peaked, metal-framed, grey canvas canopy. The other two center bays have glass infill with tall windows at the ground floor, with square granite landscaping boxes in front. Above the ground floor, the three wide center bays have white-brick piers extending uninterrupted to the roof line, with dark-yellow brick spandrels at each bay between each floor. The center bay has bands of six windows, and the other two have bands of five windows, with the center pane wider than the others, all in aluminum framing.

The inner edge of the east and west side wings are fronted by wide balconies, each fronted by a metal railing with five square panels. The rest of the wings, clad in white brick, have three bays of triple-windows. The central tower has projecting balconies at the south end of the east and west elevations above the end of the side wings. Each is four metal panels wide, and two deep.

The north facade on 73rd Street is also set back behind landscaping enclosed by an iron fence and low brick wall. The center tower spans four bays - two bays of triple-windows in the middle and wider bays with bands of five windows at the ends, flanked by projecting balconies at the sides. There is a setback above the 14th floor, above which the tower continues up to the roof line with a similar design to that on the south facade.

The north facade of the west end wings has, from innermost to outermost, a slightly-recessed band of four windows, a 5-window bay, and three bays of triple-windows, with the end bay terminating at the 17th floor and the next two changing to double-windows for the top five floors of the wings. The north facade of the east end wing has, from innermost to outermost, three slightly-recessed bays of triple-windows, and then three more bays of triple-windows with the end bay terminating at the 17th floor.

The wide east and west elevations of the center tower, flanked by projecting balconies at the north and south ends, have from north to south, two bays of five windows, and two bays of triple-windows. From there, the east facade has another 5-window bay and a triple-window bay, with one final bay of single-windows before the south balconies. The west facade is different at its southern half, with a bay of single-windows above the lower wing, followed by a triple-window bay and two more single-windows before the south balconies. A large, white brick enclosure for rooftop equipment is located near the center of the roof.

The building was converted to a co-op in 1980. It originally had 497 apartments, but some have been combined into larger units, with the total now at 453 apartments.
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Coordinates:   40°46'37"N   73°58'36"W
This article was last modified 3 years ago