Chelsea 19, 251 West 19th Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 251 West 19th Street by Carter Horsley

This handsome, mid-block, 10-story building at 251 West 19^th Street between
Seventh and Eighth Avenues in Chelsea has 43 apartments.

It was erected in 1910 and converted to a condominium in 2002 by Chelsea 19 Associates of which Don Zweibon is a partner.

It is known as Chelsea 19.

Bottom Line

A handsome, pre-war, mid-block building in the heart of Chelsea.

Description

The building has a one-story rusticated stone base with recessed apartment entrances.

The 2^nd through the 4^th floor have a handsome limestone surround beneath the beige-brick façade under a large cornice.

The building permits protruding air-conditioners and it has inconsistent fenestration.

Amenities

The building has a 24-hour attended lobby, a roof deck, bicycle storage, storage and permits washers and dryers in the apartments and pets.

Apartments

Apartment 4A is a two-bedroom unit with a living/dining area that is 35 feet long and has an open 12-foot-long kitchen and a 10-foot-long office.

Apartment 9C is a two-bedroom unit with an entry foyer next to a small home office and it leads to a 32-foot-long living room with an open 14-foot-long kitchen.

Apartment 9B is a one-bedroom unit that has a 23-foot-long dining room adjacent to a large pass-0through kitchen that also is open to an 18-foot-long living room that is separated by a desk and free-stranding closets to the 15-foot-long bedroom.

Apartment 7B is a one-bedroom unit that has an entry foyer that leads past a 14-foot-long, open, pass-through kitchen to a 22-foot-wide living room that opens onto a 13-foot-long bedroom alcove.

History

A December 10, 2012 article by Elizabeth A. Harris in The New York Times noted the condominium board in the building found “a way around” the “huge prices” for lobby art: “when they could not afford to buy, they decided to rent.

It mounted large photographs in each elevator vestibule by Rachel Perry Welty, who has lived in the building for more than 30 years.  “Each picture shows Ms. Welty obscured by the detritus of everyday life – a sea of colorful twist-ties in one photograph and rows of receipts or a blanket of price tags in others.  The artist’s husband, Mark, is president of the condo board.