The Gotham, 170 East 87th Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 170 East 87th Street by Carter Horsley

This large apartment tower at 170 East 87^th Street on the southwest corner at Third Avenue is known as The Gotham and it replaced a movie theater on the site when it was completed in 1992. 

It is one of the few buildings on the Upper East Side to offer some duplex apartments with double-height ceilings, a feature very nicely revealed in the façade by the large recessed balconies on both the avenue and the side-street. 

Developed by William Zeckendorf Jr. and partners and Tony Yamada, this hefty 27-story, 241-unit condominium building was designed by Frank Williams & Associates. 

This light-colored brick building opened in 1993 and its avenue frontage includes a movie theater complex.

Bottom Line

A very large, mid-rise apartment building in the center of Yorkville with many balconies and some fireplaces and duplexes, and convenient shopping and transportation.

Description

The building is notable also for its very attractive and prominent octagonal watertank enclosure, which is similar in design to one that Frank Williams designed for the Alexandria on Broadway at 72nd Street for the Zeckendorfs. 

In their great book, “New York 2000, Architecture and Urbanism Between the Bicentennial and the Millennium,” Robert A. M. Stern, David Fishman and Jacob Tilove noted that “the building’s almost overwhelming bulk was mitigated by a central, three-bay-wide stack of recessed balconies on the Third Avenue façade and a series of two-bay-wide recesses along Eighty-seventh Street faced in red brick to contrast with the otherwise beige brick and stone exterior.”  

“The fifteenth and sixteenth floors, set back from the street wall,” they continued, “were lined with red brick piers, suggesting a loggia.  Above that, eleven more stories rose in two-story incremental setbacks….”

Amenities

Some of the apartments have fireplaces. 

The building has a 24-hour concierge and doorman, a below-grade health club and an 82-foot-long pool with men’s and women’s locker rooms, a children's playroom and playground on a terrace, 43 storage units ranging in size from 14 to 30 square feet, and a lounge with a grand piano and a dining room and kitchen for the residents' use. 

The building also has cold storage, a live-in superintendent and a garage.

Apartments

Apartment E21C is a one-bedroom unit with a 5-foot-square entry foyer and a 28-foot-long living/dining room with a pass-through, 8-foot-square kitchen and two 7-foot-long balconies. 

Apartment E20B is a four-bedroom unit with a 20-foot-wide entrance gallery that leads to a 13-foot-long dining room adjacent to a 20-foot-living room with a balcony and a 21-foot-long kitchen that opens onto a 26-foot-long family room.  One of the smaller bedrooms also has a small balcony. 

Apartment W15A is a three-bedroom unit with an angled entry foyer that leads to a 27-foot-long living room next to an 11-foot-long dining room adjacent to a 15-foot pass-through kitchen.  Two of the bedrooms share a balcony. 

Apartment W17A is a three-bedroom unit with a 9-foot-wide entry foyer that leads to a 27-foot-long living room and an 11-foot-wide dining room next to a 10-foot-long kitchen.  The bedrooms front on a long terrace that is entered from the living room. 

Apartment 8E is a duplex with an entry foyer on the lower level with an octagonal coffered ceiling that leads to a 28-foot-long, double-height living room next to a 17-foot-long dining room that is adjacent to an enclosed, 16-foot-long kitchen and a long corridor that leads to three bedrooms and two studies.  The upper level has a 14-foot-long library and a bath. 

Apartment 19C is a three-bedroom unit with a 24-foot-long entrance gallery that leads to a 22-foot-long living room, and angled 18-foot-long kitchen and a 14-foot-long dining area.  The living room and one of the bedrooms share a 32-foot-long terrace that faces north.