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About 285 Riverside Drive
Sometimes, an architect will try to be innovative with a variation on a style, or traditional element, in an attempt to raise eyebrows.
Here, it is the building itself that has slightly raised eyebrows
It has a distinctive roofline with two low, curved arches in the middle of its Riverside Drive facade.
The 90's along Riverside Drive is quite interesting and 243 Riverside Drive at 96th Street also has a roof line with some curves, but they are part of a more consistent and interesting design.
The design here is rather subtle. Subtlety, of course, is always to be encouraged and this building's roofline is not bad at all even if the "eyebrows" are rather minimal. Curves are very welcome in such a rectilinear city as New York and Riverside Drive's sinuous curves are well suited to experimentation.
Erected in 1926 and converted to a cooperative in 1970, this attractive, 15-story building has 87 apartments.
The beige-brick building has a sidestreet entrance with nice wrought-iron doors leading to a step-up lobby. It has a one-story limestone base, no canopy, inconsistent fenestration, attractive terracotta pilasters and spandrels on the second and third floors and protruding air-conditioners.
Carter B. Horsley
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