The Park Royal Cooperative

 cooperative, apartment building

197-foot, 16-story Neo-Gothic cooperative-apartment building completed in 1926 as a luxury hotel. Designed by George F. Pelham, it opened as the Park Royal Hotel. It is clad in reddish-brown brick with cream-colored terra-cotta trim above a 2-story limestone base (and light-grey granite at the lower part). The main, south facade is 17 bays wide; above the base, the mass is modulated by small recesses at two of the bays, dividing the upper floors into three 5-bay wings.

The central entrance is wider than the other bays, set under a shallow arch. It has two sets of wood-and-glass double-doors and free-standing iron lampposts. Small windows on either side are set under pointed-arches flanked by paired Gothic pilasters crowned by finials. These three middle bays are covered by a large, suspended grey metal canopy with pointed cresting along the top and underside. Each of the four suspending rods is held by a lion's head anchor. The other bays have 2-story openings topped by pointed-arches, with double-windows at both floors. The spandrels in between the two floors are decorated with various patterns of stone tracery. The five eastern bays differ in having ground-floor openings that extend all the way to the sidewalk, with French windows in the four end bays, and a set of French doors in the 5th bay. This section of the ground floor (and the basement level) is occupied by New York Sports Clubs. The 3rd bay from the west end also have a set of French doors, and the west end bay has a service entrance with paneled wooden double-doors. The base is capped by a stone cornice.

The upper floors have double-windows with dark-grey iron mullions in all of the main bays, and two sets of double-windows in the recessed bays, all with stone sills. The side walls of the recessed bays have two single-windows. The piers are overlaid with brick ribs set at 45-degree angles, ending in decorative terra-cotta capitals at the top of the 9th floor at the end wings and at the 12th floor at the middle wing. The middle three bays of each of the three wings have terra-cotta spandrels between the 3rd & 4th floors, each with a row of pointed-arches; there are similar spandrels between the 11th & 12th floors of the middle wing.

The outer wings begin a series of setbacks above the 9th floor, marked by terra-cotta copings with peaks above each pier, and iron railings above. The middle bay of both outer wings is only slightly set back from the 10th-11th floors, crowned by shallow stone gable. The next setback, above the 12th floor, covers the full width of the outer wings, with the end bays set further back. There is a final setback above the 15th floor, before the top floor matches the rear walls of the two recessed bays. The middle wing has its first setback above the 12th floor, with the outer bays setting back again above the 14th, and a final setback below the top floor.

The east and west side elevations are clad in the same brick, and have two bays of single-windows (and a bay of smaller bathroom windows in between) at the front section, while the rear section (set farther back above the base) has another bay of bathroom windows, a bay of double-windows, a third bay of bathroom windows, and two bays of single-windows. Those at the ends terminate as the building's setbacks occur.

The rear, north-facing facade has three recessed bays, dividing the facade into four sections, each with a setback above the 6th, 9th, 12th, & 15th floors. Crowning the middle of the roof is a large, 3-story high mechanical penthouse and water tank enclosure, also clad in brick. Its north and south faces have three bays of openings (mostly vents), with two on the east and west sides. These also have terra-cotta decoration.

The building was converted to a co-op in 1985, with 242 apartments. Its ornate marble, bronze, and plaster-clad lobby has remained very intact.

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