60 Riverside Drive: Review and Ratings

Review of 60 Riverside Drive by Carter Horsley

This 20-story, white-brick apartment building at 60 Riverside Drive on the northeast corner at 78^th Street was erected in 1965 and has 151 apartments.

With its façade angles along Riverside Drive, the building is notable for its many balconies.

It was converted to a co-operative in 1983.  It was originally known as River View.

It was designed by Wechsler & Schimenti whose other buildings in the city include 1050 Fifth Avenue.

Bottom Line

A large white-brick apartment tower with many apartments with unusual layouts at a time Riverside Drive location overlooking the Boat Basin.

Description

The building has a side-street entrance with a polished black granite entrance surround and canopy. It has discrete air-conditioners and its stepped plan along Riverside Drive gives it a distinctive and rugged appearance.

A January 16, 1966 article in The New York Times noted that “above its 16^th floor setback the 20-story building has dome apartments with almost triangular room, some with trapezoidal rooms and some with five-sided rooms and others whose wall met at unusual angles,” adding that “one apartment on the 20^th floor has not square or rectangular rooms.

Amenities

The building has a full-time doorman, a concierge, garage, many balconies, and a laundry room, but no health club and no roof deck.

Apartments

Apartment 20E is a two-bedroom unit with a 14-foot-long entry foyer that leads to a 20-foot-long living room that opens onto a 13-foot-long dining room with a corner window next to an 11-foot-long enclosed kitchen.

Apartment 12G is a two-bedroom unit with a 29-foot-long living room adjacent to an open 14-foot-long dining area with a 9-foot-long angled balcony that is next to 10-foot-long kitchen.

Apartment 17F is a one-bedroom unit with a 9-foot-wide entry foyer next to a 9-foot-long enclosed kitchen and a 21-foot-long living/dining room with an angled entrance to a 17-foot-long balcony, also accessible from the 18-foot-long bedroom.  The balcony is six-sided.

Apartment 14F is a one-bedroom unit with an 8-foot-wide entry foyer next to a 8-foot-long kitchen and a 22-foot-long living room next to a 12-foot-long angled balcony.

History

According to an April 10, 2009 entry at eliseramblings.blogpot.com, “back in the 80s, the following sublet apts. there: Tom Cruise, Harry Belafonte, Steven Wright (comedian)” and “other celebs owned apts. there.  Mia Farrow had an apt. there after she and Frank Sinatra split.”