This pre-war rental apartment building looks like one of Lower Manhattan's distinguished, old office buildings with its two-story colonnade over a three-story limestone base, arched decorative panels above the windows on the ground floor and Colonial-style pediment on its roof.

Even more striking is its narrow, three-window width. Only the financial barons of Wall Street, one is tempted to think, would erect so very proper and dignified and handsome a structure on such a small plot.

Despite the fact that this area of the Upper West Side was developed in the early decades of the 20th Century with some of the most flamboyant and interesting apartment buildings, the neighborhood fell steeply into decline after World War II and only began to recover its dignity significantly in the 1980s. This building was renovated in 1986. The area is a fascinating and very lively mix of tastes and cultures. Some clothing stores still sell jackets and dresses for literally only a few dollars and there are many pleasant restaurants that attract students from Columbia University several blocks to the north and residents from many areas. One of the city's most famous Chinese restaurants is only two blocks away as is Riverside Park.

The 15-story building has 330 apartments, a doorman, a bicycle room, a sundeck, and storage space.

Carter B. Horsley