115 Central Park West (The Majestic)

115 Central Park West (The Majestic)

Date: 1930-31

NB Number: 215-1930

Type: Apartment Building

Architect: Irwin S. Chanin

Developer/Owner/Builder: Majestic Hotel Corp.

NYC Landmarks Designation:  Individual Landmark

Landmark Designation Report: Majestic Apartments

Primary Style: Art Deco

Façade (primary material): Brick

Stories: 29

Window Type: Multipane casement

Structure: Steel frame construction; Fireproof

Excerpt from LPC designation report of March 8,1988:

The Majestic is one of five towered skyscraper apartment buildings which define the impressive skyline of Central Park West.  Erected in 1930-31 by the Chanin Construction Company, headed by architect and developer Irwin S. Chanin, it is an excellent example of the Art Deco style in its streamlined later phase.  Chanin had attended the highly influential 1925 Paris exposition of decorative arts, and returned a convert to the “modernistic” style.  The Majestic was the Chanin organization’s first “experiment” in applying the Art Deco style to residential building.  The Majestic successfully adjusts the city’s housing laws to the new style; its soaring twin towers are a response to new regulations enacted in 1929.  Although built during the Depression, it belongs to the luxury apartment building genre of the 1920s.  While the Majestic’s sparing use of ornament and simple materials reflect its date of construction, the resulting austerity is an integral part of the building’s stylistic imagery.