211-225 West 79th Street

 rowhouse, apartment building

A row of eight 5-story Renaissance-revival residential buildings completed together in 1896 (the eastern two were finished a year later in 1897). Designed by Clarence True, they are clad in tan brick on the upper floors. The ground floors have all been altered to accommodate storefronts - slightly projecting at Nos. 211-217, and with farther projecting 2-story storefronts at Nos. 221-225. The earliest building to be altered was No. 213 in 1905, when a doctor's office was added in a commercial extension. Most of the other storefronts were constructed in 1930-1936, and remodeled again in 1951 and 1953, to designs by S. Walter Katz and Henry George Greene.

No. 211 at the east end is clad in black metal and glass at the ground floor, with a single horizontal window, and a recessed and angled glass door on the left, atop two steps. A black canvas canopy extends out over the entry, and the ground floor is capped by a short, sloped, white metal roof. The 2nd & 3rd floors are curved and project out to the edge of the storefront; the 2nd floor has three windows (a larger window in the center that is framed by stone pilasters with a cornice above and balusters below), and the 3rd floor has two windows with simple stone sills and brick lintels. The projecting, curved section is crowned by a dentil course that also continues across the other facades. The 4th floor has two single-windows with splayed brick lintels, and the top floor, set off by a narrow string course, has two shorter windows between terra-cotta piers decorated with rosettes. The facade is crowned by a rust-colored metal roof cornice with brackets and dentils. The ground floor is occupied by Dental365 dentist.

Nos. 213 & 215 have identical designs, and a shared ground-floor storefront of green metal and glass; there is a shared entrance in the middle, recessed behind a large iron gate. On either side, fluted metal pilasters frame the two storefronts, both of which have a plate-glass show-window and a glass door on the left. The 2nd floor on both facades have two narrow single-windows flanking a narrow set of French doors opening onto the narrow terrace on top of the projecting storefront below. These bays are framed by stoen pilasters and topped by round-arches with sunbursts, surmounted by triangular pediments. The side windows have splayed brick lintels, and a stone band course crosses the top of the 2nd floor, with the pediments extending above. The uper floors have two bays of single-windows, with splayed lintels on the 3rd & 4th floors. The dentil course and string courses from No. 211 continue across these facades, and the top-floor windows also match, shorter and set between beige terra-cotta piers with rosettes. The roof cornices also match, but painted black. The ground floor is occupied by Eye Q Optometrist, and 79th Street Pharmacy.

No. 217 is very similar to No. 211 above the ground floor. The projecting storefront is an extension of that at Nos. 213 & 215, with fluted green metal pilasters framing plate-glass. At the west end, the ground floor is stone and angles back to the original building line, with a glass-and-metal door atop a couple of steps. The only difference in the upper floors from No. 211 is the metal railing topping the curved, projecting bay at the 3rd floor, between stone end posts and with a black metal cartouche at the center, and the roof cornice being painted black.

No. 219 has a wood-and-glass door on both ends of the stone ground floor, with a horizontal, aluminum-framed window in the middle, and an aluminum band course and sign across the top. Both doorways are atop small stoops of three steps; the eastern one is natural colored wood and accesses the upper floors, while the western one is black and accesses the ground-floor commercial space. The upper floors match those at Nos. 213 & 215, with a black roof cornice. The ground floor is occupied by Riverside Animal Hospital South.

No. 221 has a projecting, 2-story commercial base of beige-painted stone. The ground floor has a metal-and-glass storefront, with glass doors at both ends, and the 2nd floor has a large, tripartite, plate-glass window with wide metal mullions. A stone coping, stepped up in the middle, caps the 2nd floor. The upper floors match those on No. 217, including the metal railing and cartouche on the curved bay at the 3rd floor. The roof cornice is also black.

No. 223 also has a 2-story commercial base. The ground floor has a black metal-and-glass storefront, and glass doors at both ends, while the 2nd floor is faced in rough grey stone and has a smaller tripartite window than seen at No. 221. The upper floors match those of Nos. 213, 215 & 219, with the triangular pediment crowning the 2nd floor still remaining at the base of the 3rd floor. The ground floor is occupied by the Oriental Lamp Shade Company.

No. 225 at the west end projects out for its full height to the extended front of the commercial bases on the neighboring building. The ground floor is faced in white-painted stone with thin, grey-painted banding. A small, 3-step stoop with iron handrails leads up to a central round-arched entrance with wood-and-glass double-doors. To either side is a tall, narrow window of glass blocks. A pair of console brackets at the top of the piers flanking the entry support a band course and cornice that projects out over the doorway. The upper floors are like those of Nos. 213, 215, 219, & 223, but projected forward, and without the triangular pediment over the 2nd floor's center window. The black metal roof cornice also follows the building line, projecting forward from the rest of the row. At the 2nd floor there is a large neon sign in the shape of a harp, mounted to and projecting from the middle of the facade. The ground floor is occupied by Dublin House bar. The bar opened here in 1933.