1230 Park Avenue: Review and Ratings

Review of 1230 Park Avenue by Carter Horsley

Completed in 1928 on the northern fringe of the Upper East Side, this 80-unit, 16-story apartment building at 1230 Park Avenue on the southwest corner at 96^th Street was converted to a cooperative in 1983.

It was designed by Gronenberg & Leuchtag, the architects also of 1235 Park Avenue.

Bottom Line

The area’s “marginal” status has improved considerably as new construction has made the 90's far more attractive and desirable. Indeed, with a location in the vicinity of Carnegie Hill and with its proximity to cross-town bus and express subway stops and Madison Avenue boutiques, this pre-war building offers a lot of convenience.

Description

The brown-brick building has a two-story limestone façade with a canopied entrance capped with five “mini-arches, each filled with a shell motif,” according to the Carnegie Hill Architectural Guide published by Carnegie Hill Neighbors. 

“Flanking the door and window,” the guide continued, “are pairs of engaged columns carved with flowers and spirals, and topped with mischievous faces. Above are pairs of arched windows with decorative moldings; Corinthian capitals top the dividing columns. On either side, square-headed windows are ornamented with winged horses and lions. A carved bandcourse supported by small brackets tops the second story. Double stringcourses run above the thirteenth story. At the fourteenth and fifteenth stories, groups of paired windows are separately vertically with rosette panels, and unified with double-story brick pilasters and decorative limestone arches. A frieze of mini-arches and a shallow limestone cornice cap the building.”

Amenities

The building has a doorman, a live-in superintendent, cold storage, a gym, and a bicycle room

It permits pets.

Apartments

Penthouse A is a two-bedroom unit with a 13-foot-wide entry foyer that leads to a 20-foot-wide living room with a wood-burning fireplace and an 11-foot-square dining alcove next to a long butler’s pantry and a 19-foot-wide kitchen and a windowed, 9-foot-wide staff room/home office.  It has a 57-foot-long east terrace accessed from the living room that wraps around to the south and is accessed also from the dining area.

Apartment 16E is a three-bedroom unit that has an 11-foot-wide entrance gallery that leads to a 22-foot-long living room and a 17-foot-long kitchen that is next to a 10-foot-long windowed dining room with a bath room.

Apartment 15D is a two-bedroom unit with a 25-foot-long entry foyer that opens into the 22-foot-long living room, a 17-foot-long den and a 10-foot-long dining room next to a 13-foot-wide kitchen.

Apartment 5E is a two-bedroom unit with an 11-foot-long entry foyer that opens into a 21-foot-long living room that leads to a 13-foot-long dining room next to a 17-foot-long kitchen and a 10-foot-long staff room.

Apartment 16B is a two-bedroom unit that has a small entry foyer that leads to a 18-foot-long living room with an open kitchen alcove.

Apartment 11A is a one-bedroom unit that has a small entry foyer that opens onto a 20-foot-long living room and a 7-foot-long, enclosed dining “bay” next to a 9-foot-long kitchen.