Park House, 116 Central Park South: Review and Ratings

Review of 116 Central Park South by Carter Horsley

This attractive, mid-block, 17-story, apartment building at 116 Central Park South was erected in 1962 and converted to a condominium in 1988. It has 79 units.

The gray-brick building is distinguished by a very handsome modern lobby and one-step-up entrance that is set back several feet from the building line. The lobby is quite deep and has vaulted ceilings. The building's façade is rather unusual in that it has inset balconies on alternate floors.

The building has a doorman and a concierge and a gym, but no sidewalk landscaping. Good public transportation is nearby as well as excellent shopping and numerous restaurants.

The building was designed by Zareh Sourian and is also known as 123-131 West 58th Street.

It is just to the west of the Intercontinental Hotel and just to the east of Berkeley House, which has a large marquee.

This block, between the Avenue of the Americas and Seventh Avenue, is the most elegant on Central Park South as it boasts the great Art Deco rooftops of the Trump Parc building on the east end and the Essex House mid-block as well as the spectacular, green mansard roof of Hampshire House mid-block and the imposing Italian-Renaissance-palazzo-style New York Athletic Club on the west end.

Like all Central Park South buildings, this building has great vistas of Central Park and the skylines of Upper Fifth Avenue and Central Park West.

Historically, Central Park South was for many decades an surprisingly unattractive location despite its great location because of its narrow sidewalks, high traffic, a proliferation of street people who patronized guests at its many hotels and a lack of normal residential neighborhood amenities.

At the end of the 20th Century, however, its ambiance improved significantly with the erection of several new luxury towers nearby and the opening of new restaurants and a supermarket not too far away and the long-delayed redevelopment of the New York Coliseum site at its western terminus.

With the elegant stores of Fifth Avenue and the boutiques of Madison Avenue nearby to the east and the varied attractions of the Lincoln Center district a few blocks away to the west, this location is very prime.