Dorchester Towers, 155 West 68th Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 155 West 68th Street by Carter Horsley

This huge, white-brick condominium  apartment building is known as the Dorchester Towers and it occupies a full block between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue and 68^th and 69^th streets.

It was erected by Paul and Seymour Milstein and designed by S. J. Kessler & Sons. 

When completed in 1964, it had 683 apartments, making it one of the city’s largest apartments at the time.

It was the first privately developed “upscale apartment building erected in the area after the construction of Lincoln Center had sent property values soaring,” Robert A. M. Stern, Thomas Mellins and David Fishman wrote in their very impressive book, “New York 1960, Architecture and Urbanism Between World War II and the Bicentennial.”

The book also notes that “Distinguished not by its overall design quality but by its setback massing along Broadway, which reflecting the lingering effects of pre-1961 zoning ordinances, the building also had the somewhat dubious distinction of being the first white-glazed brick apartment building constructed on the Upper West Side.”

Given the “whiteness” of Lincoln Center, however, that “dubious distinction” has actually aged rather well and is not unattractive although it building’s massiveness is hard to ignore despite its many setbacks and angles.

It was also the first major project in the area for Seymour and Paul Milstein, the developers who went on to building One Lincoln Plaza and 30 Lincoln Plaza, major towers with better locations directly across from the center, a few years later.

This development is also known as 181 Amsterdam Avenue and 2001 Broadway.

Bottom Line

In addition to being close to Lincoln Center, this huge, full-block, white-brick apartment building is convenient to movie theaters, restaurants and public transportation and it abounds in different floorplans.

Description

A behemoth, white-brick building, it has a 20-story wing on Broadway and a 34-story wing on Amsterdam Avenue. 

Amenities

The building has a roof deck, a driveway, an attended garage with elevator access, a doorman, a separate mail and package rooms and a central mail chute is on every floor, a bicycle room, and every floor up to 21 has a laundry room.

Apartments

Streeteasy.com indicates that this building has 376 floorplans.

Apartment 35EF is a four-bedroom unit with a 17-foot-long entry foyer next to an open 19-foot-wide kitchen with an island and a 36-foot-wide living/dining room.  The unit also has a 10-footwide home office.

Apartment 19056 is a three-bedroom unit with an entry foyer that leads to a 28-foot-long living room and adjoining 15-foot-long dining room, off the 15-foot-long enclosed kitchen.  The unit also has an 11-foot-wide den/playroom and a 9-foot-long home office.

Apartment 1624 is a two-bedroom unit with a 26-foot-long living room adjacent to an open 11-foot-long dining room next to an 11-foot-long, pass-through kitchen that is next to an angled hall with an angled closet, an angled bathroom, and a master bedroom with a 6-foot-sided bathroom.  The unit has a 46-foot-long terrace accessed from the living room and the master bedroom.

Apartment 323 is a two-bedroom unit with a 5-foot-long entry foyer that leads to an angled 31-foot-long living room and a 17-foot-long kitchen.

Apartment 515 is a two-bedroom unit with a 6-foot-long entry foyer next to a 13-foot-wide kitchen that leads to t a 10-foot-wide dining area that opens onto a 19-foot-long living room with an partially angled wall, and a 12-foot-long home office with a partially angled wall.

Apartment 23A is a one-bedroom unit with an entry foyer that leads past a 14-foot-long, pass-through kitchen to a 14-foot-wide dining area and an 18-foot-wide living room.

Apartment 1833 is a one-bedroom unit with an entry foyer next to an 8-foot-long, enclosed kitchen leading to a 21-foot-long living room, a 7-sided study and a five-sided bedroom.

Apartment 4 on floors 2 through 15 is a one-bedroom unit with a small entry foyer that opens onto a 20-foot-wide living room that is open to a 22-foot-wide study and a 9-foot-wide enclosed kitchen and a 7-sided bedroom.

Apartment 1423 is a one-bedroom unit with a 29-foot-long, angled living room adjacent to an 18-foot-wide dining room adjacent to 15-foot-long enclosed and windowed kitchen.