The Waterford, 300 East 93rd Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 300 East 93rd Street by Carter Horsley

One of the best looking modern towers in New York, residential or commercial, the Waterford at 300 East 93^rd Street on the southeast corner of Second Avenue in Yorkville commands sensational views and its neighborhood, once mostly tenements, has been constantly improving since it was completed in 1987. It is located near the entrance of the 86th Street Second Avenue subway.

Developed by Robert Gladstone and Nilin Joshi, the 221-unit condominium building was designed by Beyer Blinder Belle, a firm noted for its historic preservation projects, and Vinjay Kale.

This excellent full-service building is staffed with a 24-hour doorman, concierge, and live-in residents manager. The top floors are home to The Waterford Club, which includes a fitness center, game room, lounge, children's playroom, three outdoor terraces, and two suites for out-of-town guests.

Bottom Line

"Like the Irish crystal for which it is named, this is a particularly elegant piece of craftsmanship. The 48-story tower stands out (for now) from the surrounding urban fabric of this once not very fashionable area," observed Elliot Willensky and Norval White in their excellent book, "The A.I.A. Guide to New York City, Third Edition," (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988).

Description

The building has a bright red “hat” at the west end of its top and the north façade has many bay windows beginning about half way up the tower. 

The building sports a rather rakish top with an oceanliner-like prow facing the avenue and has a very attractive plaza with public art. Its glass façade is very finely detailed. 

The building has a six-story stone base and a three-step-up landscaping plaza with brick pavers and curved stone planters with many birch trees and a triangular glass entrance canopy. 

Amenities

The building has a doorman, a children’s playground, a rooftop health club with a party room and kitchen and a live-in superintendent. 

The building also has two guest rooms, each with a bath that can be rented for a maximum of 14 days.

Apartments

Apartment 12D is a studio unit with a foyer that leads past an open pass-through kitchen to a 22-foot-wide living room. 

Apartment 12A has a foyer that leads past a pass-through kitchen to a 23-foot-long living room with a balcony and a 15-foot-long bedroom with a bay window. 

Apartment 39C is a one-bedroom unit that has a foyer that leads to a 19-foot long living room with a bay window next to a 10-foot-long dining room with a bay window next to a kitchen. 

Apartment 19A is a three-bedroom unit with a 14-foot-long entry gallery that leads to a pass-through kitchen next to a 23-foot-long living room with a 12-foot-wide balcony. 

Apartment 36CD has an angled, 15-foot-wide entrance foyer that leads to a 22-foot-long living room with a bay window, a 9-foot-long enclosed kitchen and a 15-foot-dining from.  The unit has two bedrooms and an office, all with bay windows, and a third bedroom.

History

Gladstone is one of the city's more design-sensitive developers, and his family were also the developers of many excellent buildings including the Galleria on East 57th Street and the concave office tower at the northwest corner of 57th Street and Lexington Avenue.  Mr. Gladstone also developed the very handsome Chelsea Modern at 447 West 18^th Street.