Tracy Towers, 245 East 24th Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 245 East 24th Street by Carter Horsley

This red-brick, 17-story apartment building at 245 East 24th Street on the northwest corner at Second Avenue is known as Tracy Towers, and it should not be confused with the much more famous and more attractive apartment complex of the same name with a different spelling in the Bronx that was designed by Paul Rudolph.

This building was erected in 1961 and was designed by Lawrence & Rothman, a firm that also designed 50 Sutton Place South.

It is a cooperative with 162 apartments. It is also known as 421-7 Second Avenue.

Bottom Line

This area of Second Avenue is distinguished by several fine residential towers and is close to cross-town bus service on 23^rd Street and Hospital Alley on First Avenue and not too far away from the very popular Gramercy Park and Flatiron districts.

Description

The building has a canopied entrance flanked by lighting sconces. It has a few terraces and a large and very attractive roof-top watertank enclosure and discrete air-conditioners.

Its lobby, hallways and elevators were recently renovated.

It has no balconies and retail space on its Second Avenue frontage.

Amenities

The building has a full-time doorman, a live-in superintendent, an attractive roof deck, a laundry room, a bicycle room, and storage.

It is pet friendly but has no sidewalk landscaping and no garage.

Apartments

Apartment 15G is a two-bedroom unit with an entry foyer that leads to a 26-foot-loingliving/dining room near a 7-foot-quare, enclosed kitchen.

Apartment 2EF is a two-bedroom unit with a 26-foot-long living/dining room next to a 14-foot-long, open kitchen.

Apartment 5G is a two-bedroom unit with a 22-foot-long living/dong room with a 7-foot-long enclosed kitchen.

Apartment 10A is a studio unit with a 16-foot-lohg living/dining room with a pass-through kitchen and an 11-foot-long, angled sleeping alcove.

Apartment 9A is a studio unit with a 22-foot-long living room with a 9-foot-long sleeping alcove and an 8-foot-long open kitchen.

Apartment 16H is a studio unit with a 22-foot-long living room with a 9-foot-long sleeping alcove, an open kitchen and a long setback terrace.

History

Paul Rudolph is widely regarded as one of America s greatest architects and his “Tracey Towers” project at 20 and 40 Mosholu Parkway in the Bronx were erected between 1967 and 1972 in the air rights over a storage yard for subway trains.

The towers have curved exterior walls because the "site plan and traffic movement dictated an easing of the corners" and they were also curved "to lead the eye around the towers" and to "give a heightened sense of security to the occupants of a very high building."