307 West 79th Street, AKA 307-313 West 79th Street

307 West 79th Street, AKA 307-313 West 79th Street

NB Number: NB 511-1906

Type:  Apartment Building

Architect:  Schwartz & Gross

Developer/Owner/Builder: Messrs Brody, Adler, Koch Co

NYC Landmarks Designation:  Historic District

Landmark Designation Report: placeholder

National Register Designation: N/A

Primary Style:  Renaissance Revival

Primary Facade:   Brick, Limestone, and Terra Cotta

Stories: 10 and penthouse

Window Type/Material: See Structure

Structure:  Significant Architectural Features: Two story rusticated limestone base; deep light court; round arched entrance with scrolled keystone and anthemion; inset bay windows; terra cotta window surrounds with projecting lintels decorated with cartouches and antefixes at third story, eared surrounds with scrolled keystones at fourth through eighth stories; decorative terra cotta bands and quoins (including light court); projecting ledge supported on fluted brackets; simple molded surrounds at ninth and tenth stories; windows of light court with decorative terra cotta lintels; simple molded cornice in light court.  No stoop, sidewalk extends at grade over basement areaway.

Non-historic fence and gates on possibly historic granite posts; granite cheek walls with figural lamps; non-historic diamond plate steps with pipe railing to basement entrance; Siamese hydrants extend through fence; diamond plate fence, gate and brick wall at service alley on west.

South Facade: Designed (historic) Door(s): Altered primary door; non-historic basement door Windows: Replaced (upper stories); replaced (basement) Cornice: Removed Sidewalk Material(s): Concrete Curb Material(s): Stone Areaway Wall/Fence Materials: Possibly historic granite with non-historic fence and gate

East Facade: Not designed (historic) (partially visible) Facade Notes: Red brick; decorative terra cotta continues at return; ninth and tenth stories painted metal chimney on roof; segmental arched window; non-historic grilles at fourth story

West Facade: Not designed (historic) (partially visible) Facade Notes: Red brick; clay tile coping; decorative terra cotta continues at return; ninth and tenth stories and penthouse painted, parged through seventh story; segmental arched and flat-headed fenestration; stone sills; windows replaced; pipe and railing on roof North Facade: Not designed (historic) (partially visible) Facade Notes: Red brick; upper stories painted; segmental arched and flat-headed fenestration; leaders; windows possibly replaced.

Historic District: Riverside Drive-West End HD Extension I

Alterations: : Entrance altered, non-historic door; metal doors below entrance walkway; windows replaced, some windows reconfigured; cornice removed; non-historic railing at roof in light court; penthouse parged; security camera; sign; metal pipes on roof of west wing

History:  The Lasanno Court, as it was originally known, offered residents spacious six- to eight-room apartments. In 1910 tenants included John C. Westervelt (1873- 1934), the architect for the Child’s Restaurant chain, as well as, the former Lord & Taylor buildings at 4 East 20th Street and 184 Fifth Avenue within the Ladies Mile Historic District; Frank L. Slazenger (c. 1863-1938), a sporting goods manufacturer and dealer who specialized in tennis and golf equipment; and Joseph Liebling, a furrier, and his family. Liebling’s then five-year-old son Abbott Joseph became the well-known journalist and critic A. J. Liebling (1904-1963). Jascha Heifetz (1901-1987), the violin virtuoso, lived in the building with his parents and sisters, in 1920, three years after his Carnegie Hall debut. By the 1930s, advertisements appeared in the New York Times offering furnished rooms, often with kitchenettes, to let. Bi-Bro Realty Corporation purchased the building converted it into the Imperial Court, a single room occupancy hotel, offering “studios” with semi-private baths, housekeeping, and hotel services.

References: “A. J. Liebling, Journalist and Critic, Dies at 59,” NYT, December 29, 1963, 42; Classified Ad, NYT, April 23, 1934, 34; Classified Ad, NYT, March 8, 1939, 31; “Frank L. Slazenger, Sports Goods Dealer,” NYT, August 10, 1938, 19; Harold C. Schonberg, “Jascha Heifetz Is Dead at 86; A Virtuoso Since Childhood,” NYT, December 12, 1987, 1; J. David Goodman and Joshua Brustein, “As Tourists Find Rooms, Tenants Face Disruptions,” NYT, September 17, 2007, B3; “Lasanno Court,” Apartment Houses of the Metropolis (NYPL Digital Image 464746, accessed February 7, 2011); LPC, architect’s files; NYC, Department of Buildings, ALT 460-1940, Certificate of Occupancy, 29726, March 25, 1943; U. S. Census records, 1910 and 1920