When Sotheby's moved from Madison Avenue to York Avenue this area was pretty much the boonies, dominated by low-rise residential structures of mixed quality and an ambulance alley for the hospitals along York Avenue to the south.

The neighborhood changed pretty quickly and now sports several genuine "luxury" residential high-rise buildings near the East River. This 44-story tower is the newest and most western of that crop and it has significantly reinforced the ever-improving ambiance of the area.

The tower, which was completed in 1990, itself is quite handsome with ribbon windows, an asymmetrical massing and top that overcomes its awkwardness with excellent detailing.

At the street, the building, setback 65 feet in its own plaza designed by Thomas Balsley Associates, has a limestone base and a most imposing entrance. The plaza was designed to resemble a cobblestone court garden in Europe with stone seats around the perimeter and substantial plantings.

The Oxford, which was developed by Jack Resnick & Sons, Inc., and designed by Emery Roth & Sons, has 205 apartments, most of which are two- or more bedrooms. The building has a full complement of services such as concierge, garage and health club, pool and sundeck and balconies and terraces and even some fireplaces! All the apartments have whirlpool baths.

The site was formerly occupied by a dental clinic owned by New York Hospital and a garage. The new building used air rights from two adjacent, 50-foot-wide, six-story tenement buildings that were renovated for rental apartments as part of the project.

There are medical offices on the lower two floors that have their own entrance. The building's garage has its entrance on 71st Street.

The building's health club with swimming pool is on the second floor where there is also a 9,500-sq. ft. terrace. It was one of the first buildings on the Upper East Side to comply with new city regulations mandating easy accessibility for the handicapped and its entrances and hallways are wide.