The Antoinette, 7 East 35th Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 7 East 35th Street by Carter Horsley

The red-façade of this apartment building is quite irregular, a reflection of its complex interiors in which most of the 58 units are either duplexes or triplexes.

This 1978 building was an early project of Stephen B. Jacobs, one of the city s more prolific architects of residential buildings known for their unusual layouts.

The building has an entrance marquee and a vertical groove above it divides the building almost in half on the façade. Some windows are narrow and high and others are short and board and others are standard and some have rounded corners. The façade also has a few rounded balconies for good measure.

The overall effect is compressed, bursting, almost out-of-control energy and its fenestration experimentation was a couple of decades ahead of its time in New York City. The building won a certificate of merit for excellence in design in 1979 from the New York State Association of Architects.

Some of the apartments have eat-in kitchens and some have fireplaces.

The 13-story building, which is known as The Antoinette, has a roof deck and a doorman and was converted to a cooperative in 1980. There are several lighting scones on the ground floor.

It is across 35th Street from the great limestone building that used to house B. Altman's. one of the city's largest and grandest department stores. Benjamin Altman, its founder, was a major art collector whose fabulous collection of old master paintings was given to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

There is excellent public transportation and this building is close to The Morgan Library and the Empire State Building.