Randolph House, 135 East 50th Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 135 East 50th Street by Carter Horsley

The 10-story apartment building at 135 East 50^th Street in Midtown East was erected in 1924 and has 104 rental apartments.  It is known as The Randolph House.

Bottom Line

This pleasant, mid-block rental building in Midtown East is close to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and has good public transportation access.

Description

The light-brown brick building has a canopy entrance beneath a light well.

The first floor has a rusticated limestone base and there are stone window surrounds on the second and third floors.

It has a nice small cornice and the top floor has attractive arched tops to the windows and spandrels beneath them.

There is a bandcourse above the 8^th floor.

The building permits window air-conditioners.

Amenities

The building has a part-time doorman, a live-in superintendent, a laundry room and is pet-friendly.

Apartments

A one-bedroom apartment has an entry foyer that opens onto an open kitchen and an 18-foot-long living room.

Another one-bedroom unit has a long entry foyer that leads past a small enclosed and windowed kitchen to an 18-foot-long living room.

History

An article by McCandlish Phillips in the January 6, 1970 edition of The New York Times reported that “The State Supreme has issued an injunction against a landlord for using ‘a calculated program of harassment’ to force tenants out so their space could be rented to commercial enterprises are far higher rates.”  The landlord was Brause Realty, which had signed a 93-year lease on the building in 1967 with Allan Handler, its owner.

A fire in a ground floor office spread up the building’s elevator shaft and resulted in several deaths and 17 injured people, according to an article by John T. McQuiston in the January 12, 1988 edition of The New York Times.