660 Riverside Drive: Review and Ratings

Review of 660 Riverside Drive by Carter Horsley

This attractive, 6-story building at 660 Riverside Drive on the northeast corner of 143rd Street in Hamilton Heights was erected in 1908 and converted to 54 condominium apartments in 1985.

Bottom Line

A rather stately red-brick, 6-story building that has been partially scalped of its cornice but still presents a bold and handsome front on Riverside Drive in Hamilton Heights.

Description

This red-brick building has a rusticated, 1-story limestone base with a four-step-up entrance with a colonnade and decorative panels with landscaping. 

Directly above the entrance is an fire-escaped flush with slightly protruding piers - a design feature found often on many buildings on Broadway in Upper Manhattan.  The fire-escapes' landings have handsome railings and the overall effect of discretely minimalizing the visibility of the fire-escapes.  The building's side-street, however, two fire-escapes that are fully exposed. 

The most striking and bold aspect of the main façade is the ratcheted white window surrounds that protrude slightly. 

The façade is further modified by its three-part, slightly angled bay windows. 

It has a partially scalped cornice with only small decorative cartouches standing out a bit against the flat, beige area that once supported a cornier.  It is interesting that the handsome cartouches have survived. 

The building has a curved corner and a tall fence on the southern section of its Riverside Drive façade and all of its side-street façade. 

The building has discrete window air-conditioners.

Amenities

The building has a part-time doorman, a live-in superintendent, an elevator, a bicycle room and a washer/dryer.

Apartments

Apartment 4D is a one-bedroom unit with a 14-foot-wide living room with a 5-foot-wide open kitchen. 

Apartment 6H is a one-bedroom unit with a 15-foot-long living room next to a 6-foot-long kitchen with a window. 

Apartment 3G is a corner one-bedroom unit with a 13-foot-long living room and an enclosed kitchen with a window. 

Apartment E5 is a one-bedroom unit with a long entry foyer that leads past an enclosed and windowed 8-foot-long kitchen with a 16-foot-wide living room with an angled end wall.