215 East 68th Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 215 East 68th Street by Carter Horsley

This mammoth rental apartment building was erected by the Rudins in 1962 and designed by Emery Roth & Sons.

It is also known as 1299-1311 Second Avenue and it shares its block with the Trump Palace complex.

It has 608 apartments.

The 32-story building's original façade was white brick but the Rudins decided to replace it because it was deteriorating with a banded terracotta, "rain-screen" façade, designed by FXFowle and Forst Consulting and Architecture PLLC that is considerably more elegant despite its very boxy and bulky massing.  The new façade is white with gray and black banding.

The Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts, a leading preservationist organization, gave the building its 2013 Transformation Award.

Bruce Fowle, the architect, said that the project has given "a fresh new esthetic to the white-brick apartment house genre that swept New York City in the 1950s and 1960s," adding that "let's hope this is the beginning of a major transformation of the urban context.

The building is notable for its very extensive and attractive sidewalk landscaping on 68th Street.

In 2013, Grace's Marketplace, a gourmet food store, relocated from Lexington Avenue into the building.

The $90 million refurbishment of the building also include the addition of a gym and a children's playroom.

Bottom Line

A huge apartment complex built by the Rudins in 1962 with a very handsome new terracotta banded façade.

Description

The building's new "rain-screen" façade is a system of panels that hang a few inches away from the original façade. 

The building has a very large driveway, a fountain, an entrance marquee, and very attractive sidewalk landscaping.  

Its 32-story central tower has 20-story wings on its east and west sides.

Amenities

The building has a concierge, a doorman, a handsome lobby, a gym, a children's playground and a Grace's Marketplace gourmet food store.

Apartments

Apartment 12K is a one-bedroom unit with a 20-foot-long entry foyer that leads top a 24-foot-long living room with a 12-foot-long dining alcove next to a 10-foot-long enclosed kitchen. 

Apartment 21J is a one-bedroom unit with a 20-foot-long living room, an 8-foot-wide entry foyer and an 8-foot-wide enclosed kitchen.

History

A June 8, 2014 article in The New York Post by Isabel Vincent and Melissa Klein noted that James Milliken, the chancellor of the City University of New York rented a 3,000-square-foot apartment on the 25th floor in the building for $18,000 a month. 

The article also noted that Hazel Dukes, the New York president of the NAACP also is a resident and other prominent New York City politicians have also been residents. 

A January 28, 2014 article by Jen Carlson at gothamist.com noted that Life Magazine had run a photograph of a brownstone on the largely vacant site in 1969 with ragged sides at 215 East 68th Street that had once been the home of Stephen Vincent Benet. 

According to a July 21, 2008 article in The New York Times by Ralph Blumenthal "a seven-room unit went for $615 a month" in 1962. 

"Few rental buildings in the city have been as hospitable to public officials, past and present, as" this building "where a shouted 'Good morning, your honor!' could turn every head in the lobby," the article continued. 

"Former Mayor David N. Dinkins lives there, as did a predecessor, John V. Lindsay, Norman Goodman, the New York County Clerk, and Burton B. Roberts, former administrative judge of the State Supreme Court in the Bronx...In fact, some residents say, there are still so many boldface names on the roster you could practically establish a city government right in the building," according to the article.