48 West 73rd Street

USA / New Jersey / West New York / West 73rd Street, 48
 apartment building  Add category

7-story Neo-Grec (with Queen Anne elements) residential building completed in 1889. Designed by Charles Buek & Company, it is clad in light-tan brick with red terra-cotta trim above a ground floor that is lined with metal-and-glass storefronts along the avenue, and is clad in white stone on 73rd Street. The larger, southern storefront has a projecting glass-and-metal extension with a sloped copper roof, and each of the three storefronts is separated by a rough-faced, rusticated stone pier. The main entrance is at the east end of the north facade, up two tile steps, with a glass-and-iron double-door and transom.

The upper floors on the north facade have a bay of narrow double-windows at the west end, followed by a bay of single-windows and paired single-windows at the east end. The west facade has three bays of paired windows at the center (with the middle bay having wider windows), a north end bay of single-windows, and a south end bay of narrow double-windows. At the top floor the two outer paired-window bays are replaced by wide single-windows. There is brick banding on the 2nd floor, and projecting brownstone pilasters between the outer bays of paired windows that curve outward toward the tops, supporting projecting, triangular-shaped lintels that extend out to a point. Flanking these windows are unusual brownstone bracket shapes that stair-step up and outward toward the top of the 2nd floor. The end bays at the 3rd & 5th floors have red terra-cotta rounded pediments on top, and there are carved terra-cotta panels with foliate ornament between many of the bays between various floors. The four piers around the middle bays project slightly, each with three vertical grooves at the 3rd-4th floors. The 4th floor is capped by a red terra-cotta band course with dentils and an ornamented frieze. Grey segmental-arches top the outer paired-window bays at the 6th floor.

The ornament on the north facade matches that of the west facade, and also has terra-cotta niches between the bays at the 3rd-4th floors, with carved panels, shell bases, and triangular pediment tops. There is a green metal fire escape running down the middle of the north facade, and another at the center bay on the west facade. Both facades are crowned by a copper roof cornice with modillions and rosettes.

The south facade is clad in grey-brown brick with three bays of single-windows and another bay of smaller bathroom windows. There is another green metal fire escape at the east end of this facade. The ground floor is occupied by Harvest Kitchen restaurant, Zucker's Bagels & Smoked Fish, and a Starbucks Coffee.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   40°46'40"N   73°58'41"W
This article was last modified 2 years ago