160 Riverside Drive, AKA 355 West 88th Street
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160 Riverside Drive
Date:Â 1922
NB Number:Â NB 412-1922
Type: Â Apartment Building
Architect: Â Ajello, Gaetan
Developer/Owner/Builder:Â Paterno & Son Contracting Co
NYC Landmarks Designation:Â Historic District
Landmark Designation Report:Â Riverside Drive- West End Historic District
National Register Designation:Â N/A
Primary Style: Â Neo-Renaissance
Primary Facade: Â Â Limestone, tan brick, and Terra Cotta
Stories:Â 15
Window Type/Material:Â See structure
Structure: This fifteen-story U-shaped apartment building, with a courtyard opening to the north, is located at the northeast corner of Riverside Drive and West 88th Street, extending approximately ninety-three feet along the drive and 123 feet along the side street. The building is faced in tan brick laid in common bond with limestone and terra-cotta trim. The Riverside Drive facade is constructed with a gradual convex curve that conforms to the line of the drive. The southwest corner of the building is chamfered, creating a one bay angled profile.
Riverside Drive Facade: This facade is six bays wide and is divided horizontally into a base, a midsection, and a top. The four central bays have paired wood-framed four-over-four sash and the end bays have single wood-framed six-over-six sash. Stringcourses articulate the three story base which rests on a half story stone water table. Windows at the first four stories have ornamented stone or brick surrounds. At the sixth and seventh, and fourteenth and fifteenth stories, the center bays are joined vertically in double height terra cotta surrounds with round arched heads, floral spandrels, and shallow balconies. The balconies at the fourteenth story separate the ten-story midsection from the two-story top.
West 88th Street Facade: This facade is nine bays wide and follows the overall design of the Riverside Drive facade, with alternating bays featuring the round arched window surrounds. The limestone entranceway is located at the fifth bay from the west. The tall round arched opening is contained within a classically inspired enframement with Doric pilasters supporting a flat entablature at the second story. The entrance is topped by a pair of windows with a balcony. A service entrance is found at the easternmost bay of this facade.
Northern Elevation: Partially visible from Riverside Drive, adjacent to an alleyway, this elevation is faced in brick to match that of the main facades (with corner brick in a lighter shade). It has a recessed courtyard area between two wings. The end wings both have three windows bays; alternating stories have decorative lintels. Stringcourses are continued here. Courtyard elevations have little detail.
Historic District: Riverside Drive- West End HD
Alterations: About sixty percent of this building’s original window sash, which had six-over-six or four-over-four wood-framed sash, have been replaced, typically with large single-pane or one-over-one aluminum sash. Through-the-wall air conditioners have been installed, the water table is painted gray, and the cornice has been removed. The metal and glass doors with a painted transom and decorative metal grilles, the light fixtures flanking the entrance, and the entrance canopy are not original. A metal frame fence has been added above the cornice line.
History:Â This apartment building was designed by Gaetan Ajello and_constructed in 1922 for the Paterno & Son Contracting Company. Previously on the site were two four-story brick residences, one facing Riverside Drive and the other facing West 88th Street.
Selected References: New York City Department of Taxes Photograph Collection, Municipal Archives and Record Collection, H 2370. New York Public Library, Photographic Views of New York CitY 1870’s-1970’s from the Collections of the New York Public Library (Ann Arbor, Mich., 1981), microfiche nos. 0965-A3. Peter Salwen, “The Rice Mansion and Its Neighbors: Early Views of Riverside Drive,” LPC Research Files, 1980.