Boerum Court, 96 Schermerhorn Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 96 Schermerhorn Street by Carter Horsley

This 13-story, beige-brick building at 96 Schermerhorn Street in Brooklyn was erected in 1928 and has 100 co-operative apartments.  It is known as Boerum Court. 

The building is also known as 40-48 Boerum Place. 

It was built by St. John's University as the main building of its campus in Downtown Brooklyn.  When the undergraduate division of the university moved to Jamaica, Queens, in 1965, this building was taken over by the St. John's Law School.  In the next decade, however, the university consolidating its properties in Jamaica and the building was boarded up until 1981 when it was sold to a developer who converted it to apartments.

Bottom Line

An attractive, pre-war, mid-rise building originally built by St. John's University in Downtown Brooklyn that was converted in the early 1980s into 100 co-operative apartments, a full-time doorman and a roof deck.

Description

The building and a three-story stone base with a canopied entrance and a partially set-back two-story crown with three-protruding piers that give the building some Art Deco-styling. 

The building has some discrete air-conditioners. 

It has a handsome lobby and some of the building's lower floors have very high ceilings.

Amenities

The building has a roof deck, a full-time doorman and basement storage.

Apartments

Penthouse K is a one-bedroom duplex unit with an 18-foot-long living room  with a five-step-up dining area next to an angled and windowed, 8-foot-long kitchen. The upper level has a 13-foot-long gallery and a 13-foot-wide bedroom. 

Apartment 12E is a two-bedroom unit with an entry foyer next to an enclosed, 7-foot-wide kitchen and a 29-foot-long living room with access to a 26-foot-long balcony that wraps around a corner of the building. 

Apartment 11D is a one-bedroom unit with a long entry foyer adjacent to a 12-foot-long home office and an open kitchen with a breakfast bar and a 23-foot-long living room. 

Apartment 1C is a two-bedroom unit with a kitchen with a breakfast bar next to a 10-foot-wide dining room and an 18-foot-long living room.