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About The Rio, 304 East 65th Street
This 40-story condominium tower is one of the city's typical "sliver" surprises.
Its tall, thin form springs up incongruously from its small plot and it has little to do with its context. Its width exceeds the city's official definition of a "sliver" tower, a definition that was established in reaction to an "outbreak" of such slender projects in the 1980's that sparked considerable controversy in many residential neighborhoods.
The architects here, Gruzen Samton Steinglass, and the developers, Donald Shapiro and Vector Real Estate Co., obviously tried to do something different.
The lower balconies are different in size and orientation and style from the higher ones. Furthermore, the higher ones are curved in arcs, which adds an interesting dynamic to the building's form.
The shift in plan and design, however, come off rather awkwardly. This is not a coherent, unified design, which, of course, is not necessarily a damning criticism. Indeed, the effort deserves praise for breaking with the normal molds, even if the result is less than satisfactory to some pedestrian observers.
The building has a health club with a swimming pool in its basement. Built in 1986, this tower has 150 apartments. Its bustling location has an appeal for many who may be inured to traffic, which is considerable going to and from the Queensborough Bridge at 59th Street.
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