The Mayflower, 245 East 87th Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 245 East 87th Street by Carter Horsley

This very handsome and robust, 21-story apartment building was erected in 1966 and converted to a cooperative in 1983. It has 119 apartments.

The beige-brick building is distinguished by the sculptural treatment of its balconies, whose walls are the same as the building's. Their bold rhythm is very strong and gives the impression that this is a rugged, modern castle.

In their fine book, "The A.I.A. Guide to New York City, Fourth Edition," published in 2000 by Three Rivers Press, Elliot Willensky and Norval White make the following observations about this building: "The same economics, the same materials, the same zoning and building laws as its speculative apartment house peers, here in the hands of someone who cared. The bold massing of the balconies reads as a great richness on the avenue. It was the setting for the film version of Neil Simon's The Prisoner of Second Avenue."

It was designed by Paul & Jarman and is one of the most attractive apartment buildings on Second Avenue, which still has many tenement buildings in this neighborhood. It is across 87th Street from a taller apartment tower that has a very attractive, fenced garden and a driveway and it is only one block south of Elaine's, the famous restaurant.

The building has a very large and attractive lobby, a marquee, a five-step-down entrance with lanterns on the support columns, sidewalk landscaping with spiked planters, a ramp for stroller and wheelchair access, a concierge, a garage and an automatic entrance door. It has no health club and there is considerable traffic on Second Avenue.

This is a lively neighborhood with many restaurants nearby on the avenues and excellent cross-town bus service nearby on 86th Street. An express subway station is at Lexington Avenue and 86th Street and 86th Street in this area is a major retail center with several movie theaters. While there are no nearby parks, this neighborhood has numerous apartment towers and the charming Carnegie Hill neighborhood with its many cultural and religious institutions and many private schools is nearby to the west.