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About The Coronado, 155 West 70th Street
One of the few post-World War II apartment buildings to even think of gargoyles, this building is a pleasant surprise.
The huge, winged-dragon-like creatures that balance themselves on globes above its large curved, glass canopy sidestreet entrance are no bats out of hell, but delightful Post-Modern homages to the great building traditions of the area's past.
Their highly visible perch makes boulevardiers along Broadway do double-takes. Humor is extremely difficult in architecture, but Schuman, Lichtenstein, Claman & Efron, the architects of the Coronado, have managed to bring it off quite well here even if the sculptures will win no stonemason awards from Medieval guilds.
The canopy is so attractive that it can "carry" almost anything.
New Yorkers have grown so inured to pedestrian, lackluster architecture that they wholeheartedly welcome good gestures. The typical, non-slum apartment building of the prior couple of decades to this project were "eye-level" exercises where a nice street-level entrance was supposed to make up for a banal building.
Here, the building can stand on its own.
This 21-story, red-brick, condominium building was developed by Sherwood Equities and opened in 1990. It sets back its top five floors to keep in context with the Almanac Hotel Building across the street and its Coronado's façade is nicely modulated with bay windows and a curved corner at Broadway.
Residents of the 124 apartments have access to a health club and pool as well as a children's playroom and a billiard room! They also have storage rooms and a bicycle room.
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