In the mid-1970s, the architectural firm of Davis, Brody & Associates came up with a new, high-rise, residential building prototype for New York City: an enclave of several slender, tall, chamfered towers.

The first was Waterside in Manhattan along the East River and it was followed by River Park Towers in the Bronx along the Harlem River and then Cathedral Parkway Houses on West 110th Street and finally the Ruppert Brewery project on the east side of Third Avenue between 90th and 92nd Streets in Yorkville.

Waterside, which was built in 1974, had four major towers. River Park Towers and Cathedral Parkway Houses had two. Ruppert’s tower were as tall but no longer slender. All were faced in large red-brick masonry and had vertical fenestration patterns.

Waterside was built on a platform on the east side of the FDR Drive from 25th to 30thth Streets and was support by more than 2,000 pilings descending 80 feet into the bed for the East River.

The complex has 1,470 apartments in the towers and some offices and retail spaces and garages beneath a large, landscaped plaza at the south end of which is the United Nations International School, which was designed by Harrison, Abramovitz & Harris.

The four towers range in height from 31 to 37 stories high and because of the "pinwheel" plan their stepped and faceted profiles give each apartment spectacular views.

Steps lead from the plaza to the river s edge, a pedestrian bridge spans the FDR Drive to 25th Street and the complex’s open...