New York City is full of surprises and the area north of Little Italy in Manhattan has two major ones, the former Police Headquarters Building and this building.

The wedge-shaped and domed Police Headquarters Building at 240 Centre Street between Grand and Broome Streets, is one of the city's most imposing free-standing, Renaissance-Revival-style structures with Baroque flourishes. It was designed by Hoppin & Koen in 1909 and converted to residential condominiums in 1988.

This building is two blocks north of the grandiose former Police Headquarters Building and was erected in 1927 for the East River Savings Bank and was designed by Cass Gilbert, the architect of the famous Woolworth Building facing City Hall Park.

The 14-story building has a three-story limestone base with very tall colonnades on both Lafayette and Spring Streets. Its corner is chamfered.

The beige-brick building has a nice deep cornice and string-courses at the third, fourth and 12th floors.

A rooftop penthouse with a wrap-around terrace has been added.

The building has 40 condominium apartments and 12,000-square feet of retail space.

The conversion was completed in 2004 and was undertaken by Africa Israel Investments, which is traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and is involved in several ventures in New York City including the River Lofts facing the Hudson River at 92 Laight Street, 15 Broad Street, and 88 Leonard Street in Manhattan and the Empire Stores between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges in Brooklyn facing the East River, 85 Adams Street, which is three blocks north from the Empire Stores, and 84 Front Street, also in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn.

This elegant building is convenient to the many restaurants and boutiques of SoHo and NoHo as well as Little Italy and Chinatown.

It has no garage and no sidewalk landscaping.