33-43 West 61st Street: Sofia Brothers Warehouse
aka 41-47 Columbus Avenue
43 West 61st Street (Sofia Brothers Warehouse)
Date: 1929-30
Type: Garage/Stable and Warehouse
Architect: Jardine, Hill and Murdock
Developer/Owner/Builder: Kent Brothers
NYC Landmarks Designation: Individual Landmark
Landmark Designation Report: Sofia Brothers Warehouse. Designed as one of two Kent Automatic Parking Garages; Operated as a garage until 1943, when the Central Savings Bank (holder of the mortgage) sold it to the Sofia interests, who removed the electrical “parking machine” to convert the building to a storage warehouse.
National Register Designation: #84002801
Primary Style: Art Deco
Primary Facade: Brick and Terra Cotta
Stories: 24
Window Type: Twelve-paned metal sash; some have been replaced by one-over-one sash; spandrel on 15th story and above are unified by paired horizontal or vertical bands of black brick
Alterations: Original vehicle entrance on Columbus Avenue blocked in 1943 when building was converted to a storage warehouse (Alteration Architect–George S. Kingsley)
Excerpt from LPC designation report of April 12, 1983:
The Art Deco Sofia Brothers Warehouse was designed by the firm of Jardine, Hill & Mudock as one of two Kent Automatic Parking Garages. built in 1929-30, the garage used a patented automatic parking system in which an electrical “parking machine” engaged cars by their rear axles and towed them from the elevator platform to parking spots. As the use of automobiles increased after the First World War, the creation of parking facilities became a necessity in urban areas as the design of garages a new field for architects.