153-169 Manhattan Avenue

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A group of five 6-story Renaissance-revival residential buildings completed together in 1907. Designed by Moore & Landsiedel, they are clad in light grey-beige brick at the southern three facades, and warmer tan brick at the northern two. The ground floors have horizontal stone bands consisting of rows of projecting half-spheres alternating with pairs of smaller balls stacked around the larger ones, and they are capped by stone cornices with egg-and-dart moldings (the ground floor at No. 169 is different, clad in rusticated limestone). The top floors are set off by wide, flat, grey stone bands, and are more simply banded in brick. The edges of each facade are lined with brick quoins.

The south facade of No. 153 has four single-windows at the west end, with the 3rd one replaced by a brown metal service door at the ground floor. Continuing to the right is a smaller window, another, single-window, two single-windows grouped closer together, another single-window, another smaller window, another set of two single-windows grouped together, and an end bay with a wider single-window. At the ground floor the two easternmost window bays have been replaced by a metal-and-glass storefront, while the next three window openings have been bricked-in, with the next one partially bricked-in and a vent installed at the top; another vent is installed in the next window bay to the west. All of the ground-floor windows have splayed stone lintels (with horizontal ribs on each block) with scrolled keystones. On the upper floors (except the 5th) most of the windows have splayed stone lintels with scrolled keystones, but the end blocks have delicate foliate patterns and the inner blocks have angled, vertical ribs. The grouped windows at the 3rd & 4th floors have wider lintels joining them, with horizontal ribbed end blocks and larger keystones. At the 2nd floor these bays have acanthus-leaf brackets around the tops of the windows, with elaborate bands of foliate ornament and shells between them, carrying projecting stone lintels joining the windows that are topped by more shell forms. The original decoration has been removed from the stone band below the top floor, and the facade is capped by another plain stone band where a roof cornice once stood.

The east facade on the avenue is basically the same at each building, except that No. 153 has metal-and-glass storefront installed on either side of its entrance, and the facade is set higher than those to the north. As such, it has a slightly higher stoop, with red-painted steps and red-painted iron handrails above the short sidewalls. The black metal-framed glass door, sidelight, and transom are set in a pair of elaborate moldings, the outer one larger, and the doorway is framed by a pair of Doric columns supporting an entablature with foliate ornament and a cornice. The stoops on the other facades are not painted; there are two steps at Nos. 157 & 161, four steps at No. 165, and five steps at No. 169. The entrances all otherwise match, except that the doors at the northern two are framed in stainless-steel.

There are two single-windows on either side of each entrance, with ribbed, splayed lintels with scrolled keystones. There are basement windows below, and the basement levels are faced in stone. The upper floors have six single-windows, roughly grouped into three pairs. There are individual splayed lintels with scrolled keystones at the middle two windows, while the outer bays at the 3rd & 4th floors are paired together under wider splayed lintels with larger scrolled keystones; they are also joined by wide stone sills. The 2nd floor has hooded lintels at the outer bays, with acanthus-leaf brackets with seashells and foliate ornament between them; they are joined across the top by cornices adorned by more shell forms. The 5th-floor windows are all topped by individual splayed lintels with scrolled keystones.

The ground-floor windows at the northern two buildings have white iron grilles, and the basement areaways are all enclosed by iron fencing, painted white at Nos. 165 & 169, where the trim on the windows of the upper floors are painted brown. Each facade also has an iron fire escape, black at the southern three and white at the northern two. All of the roof cornices have been removed.

The upper floors of the north facade of No. 169 on 108th Street have a center bay of paired windows, with another near each end. In between, there is a single-window and a smaller bathroom window on the east side, and a single-window with two bathroom windows on the west. At the west end is another single-window, and at the east end is one spaced farther apart. The ground floor has the same window arrangement, except at the east end, which is rusticated and has two single-windows. The rest of the ground floor is white-painted brick with the same patterned banding as the other facades. All of the ground-floor windows have white iron grilles and splayed stone lintels with scrolled keystones. The upper floors have the same trim as the east facade, painted brown, with hooded lintels at the paired window bays on the 2nd floor, joined lintels and sills on the 3rd & 4th floors at these bays, and splayed lintels with scrolled keystones at the single-windows. The rear, west elevation is clad in brown brick with bays of single-windows and more fire escapes.

The storefronts at No. 153 are occupied by L'Exquisitus restaurant, and 155 Barber Shop.

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