By Carter B. Horsley
With a very boldly designed cornice and rope quoins, this is one of the more interesting looking apartment buildings on the avenue in this area despite its "semi"-exposed rooftop watertank.
This building was erected in 1927 and converted to a cooperative in 1955.
The 16-story building has only 34 apartments.
It was designed by Schwartz & Gross, whose other buildings on the avenue include 470, 525, 885, 888, 910, 911, 930, 970, 983, 1045, 1070, 1095, 1125 and 1165.
The building, which has a doorman, consistent new fenestration and protruding air-conditioners, is close to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue and many boutiques and art galleries along Madison Avenue. It has no garage and no health club. Cross-town buses run on 79th Street and one of the city’s best schools, PS 6, is nearby on at Madison Avenue.
An April 20, 2011 article by Craig Karmin in The Wall Street Journal noted that former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw had sold a 10-room duplex apartment in the building that had "had a $10.75 million asking price."
The article said that the building was "famous for its current and former residents, from Wall Street chief executives to the recently deposed city public schools chancellor, Cathleen Black," adding that "it has had its share of bold-faced names." "Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein last year sold a five-bedroom apartment in the building for $12.15 million after moving across town to 15 Central Park West. Former Merrill Lynch head Stanley O'Neal also bought an apartment there."
The article said that "Mr. Brokaw's apartment has three bedrooms and - like many of the 37 units in the building - it includes a library. It also has it own private elevator landing and 28-foot-long entrance gallery."