Block 1119  Lot 5

By Carter B. Horsley

Everyone loved the nighttime sparkle of the lit trees at Tavern-on-the-Green in Central Park until it closed in 2010, but the residents of this 16-story cooperative apartment building might be a bit blasé since the spectacle was virtually in their front yard.

There is, of course, much else to see from this prime parkfront site, such as the glories of the midtown and Upper East Side skylines.  One of its residents, Ruth Orkin (1921-1926), became famous for her photographs from her 15th floor apartment in the building.

The handsome, 110-unit building was erected in 1926 just before the Central Park West skyline sprouted with its famed multi-towered apartment palazzi and this building is sedate for such a prime site, but quite attractive. Although it is a block north of the 65th Street park transverse road and a block south of the entrance to the former Tavern-on-the-Green restaurant, it is in the midst of considerable traffic, but its location also offers proximity to the Lincoln Center district, one of the city's most desirable because of both the cultural facilities and the area's extensive prime retail.

The building, which has a three-and-a-half stone base, the bottom two floors of which are rusticated, and a masonry facade with finials along its top terrace, was converted to a cooperative in 1987. The building has a doorman, an entrance marquee, and some balconies, but inconsistent fenestration, no sundeck, no garage and no health club.

It was designed by Emery Roth with light-brown bricks and terracotta detailing.  There are some two-story window surrounds with foliation, medallions, a cherib and balustrades.  According to the hausfitzgerald.com website, "at the third-level, situated above the grand entrance, a window surround enriched with finials atop a balustrated railing and a broken swan-neck pediment with decoration in the tympanum adds a classical flair to the structure."