271 Central Park West: Review and Ratings

Review of 271 Central Park West by Carter Horsley

This 14-story, 26-unit full-service cooperative building at 271 Central Park West on the northwest corner at 87^th Street was erected in 1913. 

It was designed by Schwarz & Gross.

Amenities include private storage, a basketball court, and gym (currently in construction).

Bottom Line

A handsome, beige-brick, pre-war building that has only 2 apartments per floor and a prime Central Park West location that is very convenient to public transportation.

Description

With almost symmetrical east and south façades except for the handsome two-story entrance surround with canopy and four pilasters and a large entablature on Central Park West, this handsome, pre-war building has very attractive bandcourses above the second and 11^th floors and stringcourses above the 3^rd, 10^th and top floors.  The latter has arched window tops and there are is a large center balcony-like protrusion on the sixth story and slightly shorter one on the 9^th floor.

There are decorative façade elements adjacent to the windows on the 11^th floor.

The east and south façades are also somewhat different because the east façade has small window slots that are filled in with masonry facing the park.  The building’s windows are slightly inset giving the façades a more textural character.

The building has some discrete air-conditioners and inconsistent fenestration..

Amenities

The building has a doorman and an elevator operator as well as a bicycle room and an outdoor half basketball court the rear of the building.

Apartments

Apartments have wood-burning fireplaces, high ceilings and libraries and staff rooms.

Apartment 5E is a four-bedroom unit that has a 9-foot-long entry foyer that leads to a 13-foot-long library, a 19-foot-long corner living room with a corner fireplace, and a 19-foot-long dining room next to a 23-foot-long eat-in kitchen.

Apartment 7E is a three-bedroom unit with a 16-foot-wide entry foyer next to a 14-foot-wide library, a 19-foot-long corner living room and an 18-foot-long dining room and a 14-foot-wide kitchen and a 12-foot-wide staff room.

History

In 2010, Agnes Nolan sold her penthouse in the building to Jaishri and Vikas Kapoor, the chief executive office of IQor, an outsourcing firm, according to an October 12, 2010 article in the observer.com by Chloe Malle.  The article noted that Ms. Nolan had lived in the five-bedroom apartment since 1964 and that the building’s board had “squashed” the attempt of neighbor Robin Williams, the actor and comic, to combine it with his, “citing concerns about an individual owning too many shares” in the building.

Another resident in the building was Mrs. Cyrus L. Sulzberger, whose husband was a columnist for The New York Times and another was Meryl Streep, the actress.