Overview

About 30 East 85th Street

One of the few, new, tall, post-World War II buildings on the Upper East Side west of Lexington Avenue, this 30-story tower is one of the most luxurious.

The building has a very attractive, two-story granite base and a very impressive entrance on the side-street with a large marquee flanked by flowerboxes.

Above its low-rise base, the tower, which rises in several setbacks to a slanted crown, is freestanding. Most units have corner balconies and there are some terraces.

The large, slanted crown of the building is illuminated at night.

Clearly, the developers, Donald Zucker and Joseph Slifka, wanted to create a first-class property befitting its prime location close to Museum Mile on Fifth Avenue and the staggering vistas from many of its units.

The original scheme called for 104 units but by the time the building was completed several were combined and the building has 90 apartments, all with solid wood doors, cherry wood floors and, most rare for a post-war building, plaster walls.

As if in deference to its aspirations, two old low-rise buildings immediately to the west on 85th Street were rebuilt into luxurious, modern townhouses designed by Gwathmey Siegel Associates, a nice complement, and, more importantly, a major improvement to the streetscape.

The design of the tower by Schuman, Lichtenstein, Claman & Efron is fine in its proportions, but the choice of a pale, salmon-colored brick was unfortunate. Some older apartment houses nearby are clad in light-beige brick and the architects here deserve credit for attempting to find a compatible, contextual color as well as a distinctive one. The color is a bit odd, but not offensive and the brickwork seems less than perfect, and the mansard-like watertank enclosure is a little clumsy. Still, the overall impression here is of considerable quality and modern apartments at such an extremely desirable location and with such views are very rare.

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