Park 23, 295 Park Avenue South: Review and Ratings

Review of 295 Park Avenue South by Carter Horsley

This handsome, 8-story building on the southeast corner of Park Avenue south and 23rd Street was erected in 1892 as the headquarters of the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

It was designed by Renwick, Aspinwall & Renwick.

It is just to the north of the United Charities Building that was designed by R. J. Robertson in 1891.

This building was converted to rental apartments in 1982 by Abi Kalimian. It has 179 units.

The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was founded in 1875 by Elbridge Thomas Gerry and Henry Bergh as the world's first child protective agency.

According to an entry at preserve2.org on a proposed extension to the Gramercy Park Historic District, "it is clear from the restrained exterior design that the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children did not want to expend a great deal of unnecessary money on the embellishment of their new headquarters."

"The building has an unadorned stone base, a simple yellow brick upper façade, and modest terra-cotta detail. The major ornamental features are located on the seventh floor, where terra-cotta panels with figures of children represent the original use of the building. These panels are modeled after those designed by Andrea Della Robbia at the Ospedale degli Innocenti in Florence. This terra-cotta work was created by the Perth Amboy Terra Cotta Company. The main entrance, located in the center of the Park Avenue South elevation, was originally set within a projecting two-story portico with free-standing columns, but his entrance has been cut back to the building line."

The society was created in 1975 to investigate cases of cruelty to children under the age of 16, to care for abused children, and to assist in the enforcement of laws established to protect children.

There is excellent pubic transportation in the vicinity as well as many restaurants and Madison Square Park is one block to the west and Gramercy Park is two blocks to the south and east.

The building has a doorman and some duplex apartments.