P R O P O S E D   H I S T O R I C   D I S T R I C T   E X T E N S I O N

- To return to the extension map -

44 GRAMERCY PARK NORTH
Architect: Schwartz & Gross
1929-30

In its massing, this large apartment house appears as two separate structures, reflecting the different height restrictions required by New York's zoning code for buildings erected on a side street and opposite a park. The section of 44 Gramercy Park North situated opposite the open space of the park rises to a height of 15 stories, but the section facing onto East 21st Street was allowed to rise only to a height of 90 feet, or nine stories. the building facade is unified in its use of materials and ornamental details. The entire facade is faced in brick and has an overlay of Neo-Gothic detail that includes a limestone pointed-arch entry and large leaded glass window on the ground floor, and, on the upper floors, white terra-cotta panels with buttresses and blind pointed arches, terra-cotta balconies pierced by quatrefoils, drip lintels, modest gables, and crenelated parapets. In addition, the three upper floors of both sections of the building are enlivened with brick diaperwork, and all of the windows retain their original multi-paned metal casements.

The architects, Schwartz & Gross, were among the most prolific apartment-house designers of the early decades of the 20th century. During the 1910s and most of the 1920s, Schwartz & Gross designed buildings with Renaissance-inspired detail, but in the late 1920s, the firm began to use medieval features, as is evident on this building and on such contemporary designs as 14 East 75th Street (1928-29) and 1185 Park Avenue (1928).