Sutton View, 420 East 58th Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 420 East 58th Street by Carter Horsley

This 27-story, mid-block apartment tower at 420 East 58^th Street is known as Sutton View. 

Erected in 1986, it is a condominium and has 75 apartments. 

It is across from some very large and lush landscaped plazas and is one block south of the Queensborough Bridge and half a block to the west of Sutton Place townhouses. 

It was designed by Tician Papachristou of the architectural firm of Gatje, Papachristou, Smith, the successor firm to Marcel Breuer and Associates. 

Myron Minskoff was the developer.

Bottom Line

Sutton View is a high-rise condominium apartment tower in the Sutton Place neighborhood that offers many wonderful views and has only three apartments a floor and many balconies.

Description

The mid-block building has a three-step-up entrance deck surrounded by aluminum pipe railing setback in a plaza. 

It has bay windows on its second through seventh floors. Above the seventh floor, it has curved, white pipe-railing, deep balconies. The building, which is banded with red and brown masonry, has consistent fenestration, discrete air-conditioners, and glass entrance doors, but no sidewalk landscaping and no garage. 

It is separated by a low-rise building to the west from the slightly taller New Yorker East apartment building that was erected in 1975.

Amenities

The building has a canopied entrance, 24-hour doorman, an on-site superintendent and basement storage. 

It is across the street from the large, landscaped plaza of the Sovereign apartment tower. 

There is good bus transportation nearby at 57^th Street and First Avenue. 

There are numerous restaurants and neighborhood stores nearby as well as three small parks.

Apartments

There are five lines of units – the two penthouses, the townhouse, the 2-bedroom B-line, the 1-bedroom A-line, and the studio or C-line apartments. 

The B-line units provide living areas that look towards the Upper East Side and offer either bay windows on the lower floors or balconies with an East River view on the higher floors. Each feature a pleasant windowed kitchen, 2 full baths, generous master bedrooms, and lovely living/dining areas. 

A-line units are spacious and sunny units that provide beautiful views to the north, east, and south. Each features 1.5 baths and an elegant layout with balconies on the higher floors. The studio units are large enough to convert to a one-bedroom apartment, which many unit owners have done. Generous in size and practical in proportion, these units possess spectacular south-facing views of both the Chrysler and Empire State buildings. 

Unlike many surrounding buildings in the neighborhood, The Sutton View Condominium is a smartly run, energy efficient building. Much effort has gone into the transition to energy-conserving components of the infrastructure in order to make the building as “green” as possible. 

The building provides steam heat and a state-of-the-art pre-heater helps reduce dependency on steam.

Almost half of the units in the building have installed high quality thermal windows to further conserve energy while significantly enhancing the appeal and comfort of their home.

History

The Sutton View was designed by Tician Papachristou. 

Born in Athens, Papachristou moved to the United States to complete his education at Princeton. He had his own architectural practice in Colorado before relocating to the east coast where he subsequently joined the firm of Marcel Breuer and Associates upon referral from a former Breuer student, I.M. Pei. Papachristou later went on to become their CEO with full endorsement of Breuer. 

In designing The Sutton View Condominium, his first major project in New York City, Papachristou applied a post-modern style, incorporating subtle elements reminiscent of the art deco era, to create a sophisticated yet intimate boutique across the street from the huge Sovereign apartment building. 

It is a block south of a large attractive restaurant and supermarket in the large vaults beneath the bridge where there is also an athletic field and tennis club.