ConEd Astor Substation

 electrical substation  Add category

Electrical substation completed in 2008. The exterior is variously clad in beige cast-stone and brick in shades of red, orange, and grey, with false windows to break up the bulk of the building and disguise the nature of the equipment located inside.

The long west elevation on 11th Avenue has a light grey-brown stone water table at the base. The north and south ends are clad in pre-cast stone scored into square panels. The ground floor has a band of five window panes at both of these bays, with the upper section separated by a broad panel of beige concrete, with outlined moldings. The upper level of each has two smaller faux windows. Another matching section is located just north of the west facade's center. The rest of the facade is clad in reddish-orange brick at the ground floor, with a thinner concrete band separating the upper sections, which have variegated red-and-grey brick near the north end, and pale-orange brick at the rest. The north brick section has tall, paired false windows at the left side on the ground floor, while the right (south) side has another paired with a steel service door below a steel panel. A matching service door is right next to this one, taking the place of one of the large glass panes in the neighboring stone-clad section. The upper level has two bays of paired false windows, with a square steel panel separating a very tall additional window extending down below the southernmost false opening.

The longer brick section has more tall windows along the ground floor - first there are two singles, then a group of four, and then three pairs. There are corresponding shorter windows at the upper level, with longer ones extending down from steel panels below the three paired bays near the south end. All of the windows have metal framing, and some have projecting sills and lintels. The roof line has a beige cornice, placed higher and with dentils along the brick sections.

The north facade on 50th Street has a section of variegated red-grey brick at the east end, while the rest is grouped into four bays of darker grey cast-stone (scored into panels), each separated by a white concrete pier. The brick section has darker brown brick on the ground floor instead, where there is a steel door below a steel panel and a garage door with a roll-down metal gate. The upper section has two false windows, the east one with a long window extending down below it. The ground floor at the other four bays has metal louvers, with light-grey concrete and steel panels separating the upper section, where each bay has a large square false window. The roof line is similar to that on the west facade.

The south facade on 49th Street has two bays of metal louvers below grey cast-stone at the west end, followed by a bay of orange brick (with three pairs of tall, narrow vents at the ground floor, and three paired windows at the top), another two bays of grey cast-stone, and a taller east end bay of redder brick where the ground floor has a garage door and metal service door next to a window, and the upper section has two bays of paired windows, one of which has a long window extending below it. The four grey cast-stone bays each have a large, square false window.