Looking at the rendering for the new building on 68th street and Amsterdam Avenue, I thought “Gee, I wonder if Upper West Siders will have any opinion about this?” That, of course, is a rhetorical question.
The architect’s rendering above was just placed against the scaffolding surrounding the building under construction at 170 Amsterdam Avenue, just East of Lincoln Towers. The building, owned by Chicago-based Equity Residential, is set to open in February 2015. It will be 20 stories tall and contain 235 apartments, along with plenty of retail.
We’ve already been hearing very varied opinions about the site. A commenter at real estate blog Curbed said it has a “Port Authority vibe” and another calls it “absolutely hideous.” But the blogger at New York YIMBY (the opposite of NIMBY) likes it a lot:
Most new development on the Upper West Side is aesthetically adequate, with an overarching theme of staid contextuality; 170 Amsterdam proves that breaking the mold is an occasional necessity, and the project will do so in a big way. Innovative architecture is a rarity in the neighborhood, and a project that can translate forward-thinking design into a human-scaled and attractive final product is even harder to find. Early indications are that 170 Amsterdam will achieve both goals, and while iconic status may be a stretch given its size, the new renderings are a shockingly pleasant surprise.
So…what do you think? Opine away in the comments.
Here’s what the construction site looks like now:
Ugly. How idiotic is the comment that some buildings should stand out, proclaim its “differentness.” This building proclaims its ugliness as loudly as possible, and will be a blight on the neighborhood until, one day, it’s junked. Just awful!
As we know, money does not guarantee good taste – but it does allow you to buy what you wish. It will fit right in with the white townhouse renovation a few blocks north that everyone loved so much. It is not your father’s Amsterdam Avenue. (Not that there is anything wrong with that.)
“Port Authority vibe” not withstanding, it beats the ugly institutional architecture of the Lincoln Towers buildings behind it.
Xactly!!!
Could not agree more. I’ve seen worse,
Another thing to keep in mind is that we are looking at a relatively low resolution rendering of this design. I would like to see something of a higher resolution and some idea of the materials being used.
First impression is of an unsteady edifice held together with giant elastic bands. Looks completely out of place in the artist’s rendering.
First impressions: It is already an old building, wearing suspenders to hold its bottoms up!
It looks inside-out to me, with a touch of Noah’s ark thrown in. Not a fan.
Really, like it or not, how much worse could the neighborhood look after the soulless, institutional monstrosities that are Lincoln Towers???
I was quick to disparage the new Hearst building, but I’ve come to consider it a fine addition. This building, with its X’s reminds me of it.
Yes, my thoughts exactly!
When architects run out of ideas, they resort to festooning their buildings rather than designing them. In this case, we get a hideous trellis which wouldn’t be made more repulsive even with poison ivy growing on it.
Carelessly destroying the fabric of the neighborhood’s historic buildings! Where are the Preservationist and why aren’t the crying FOUL? That stretch of Amsterdam crosses Broadway a few blocks hence, revealing glorious views of some of the city’s finest old Beaux Arts and Renaissance Revival buildings. From the Dorilton at 71st Street to the Apthorp in the 80s, it’s a glorious stretch of beautiful old New York buildings. I’m not against modern architecture, but feel that new designs in a neighborhood with such strong architectural integrity need to make some nod to the past, and blend new with old. Such a pity.
Ummm, this is replacing a one story 1960s taxpayer with no design.
BTW….I like the new building alot. thumbs up from me.
What you are saying is exactly why a building such as this is great here. All the buildings you are naming were radical and seemed “out of place” when they were first built. Somebody has to do something different. The Dorilton and the Apthorp were both considered to be too large and out of place when they were built. Each was thought to be wrong for their particular location at the time, when everything around them was so much smaller. A sense of history is quite helpful in this context.
If you pay 50 gazillion dollars to acquire the land, development rights and construction financing and also create a boatload of jobs in the process – there is a lot of momentum at work that is going to allow you do much of what you want to do. It’s their land, their building, their project their money. If it is to code, not much to (or perhaps even should) be done about it.
It doesn’t get much uglier, What are we going to do about our wonderful neighborhood
Absolutely hideous! Tell Chicago NY doesn’t need their castoffs.
Go home Hearst building, you’re drunk.
This is what happens when Peter Keating does his own work.
I live in Lincoln Towers and they are ugly. I liken them to Communist Housing. The apartments, though, are quite nice. I don’t mind this building. Its a lot more interesting to look at than some other buildings in the neighborhood. My bigger concern is not what the building looks like, but can the neighborhood handle another large building. The subway, grocery stores, and the like are already hideously crowded. I hope some of the “retail” in this building will add vital services.
So retail is going to be set back a bit behind those weird angular columns? What retail is going to want to be in there? It looks like it fell from outer space. Awful.
It’s an office building in a cage!
It kinda fits right in with Lincoln Towers. A slightly updated version, held together by old shoelaces. Bit it’s not bad. Someone tried. A for effort, B for execution. Be nice if there was an actual supermarket in the base.
I think this is great…and it’s in exactly the right place. At least three luxury condos have gone up on Broadway/Amsterdam in the last several years and they all look vaguely like modern prisons or cheap Holiday Inns. At least now we can have something with spark and flash. It’s in the right place, in that it has nothing directly next to it so it can stand out. What would you want here, another dull glass box?
The only thing worse than another glass box, is a glass box in a fishnet stocking (or cage).
This is the ugliest edifice I’ve seen in a very long time…what was the architectural firm and the architect thinking?…I dunno, can the design be revised?
Makes the awful citibank concrete shed look attractive!
Supposedly, The Windy City has some interesting architecture; guess these architects didn’t make the cut there and decided to try their luck elsewhere.
The building IS ugly, especially in contrast to the beautiful glass Aire to its immediate southwest.
Betcha that those cross-braces will lead to its being called THE X-RATED BUILDING or something.
One wish – if it is to have retail at street-level, maybe someone will bring back the great and inexpensive neighborhood restaurants like “Mama’s” and the Ethiopean place that once existed on this site.
Maybe its crossing itself because its too near to the Jewish center next door?
Graceless. It’s like the cross braces are an afterthought added to give the cheap tower some character, but it’s the the skeevy character of a bus station. Absolutely hideous and will bring the aesthetic of the whole neighborhood down. I guess they’re taking a cue from the hulking and sad MLK High School complex and the 60s brutalist fortress that is La Guardia High nearby. For ugly institutional architecture, I much prefer the Soviet-style housing blocks that surround it. I love to walk through there because the gardens are quite well designed and lovely, and it has all the best, warm qualities of high-density communal city life. I feel like I’m in a 1940s Orson Welles movie in Lincoln Towers. Love it! But this new thing is going to bring out all the worst qualities of Lincoln Center (which still looks awful from Amsterdam) and all the mediocre skyscrapers nearby (the Aire being the only graceful exception).
Newness is a good thing – that’s always been an ugly stretch leading to the UWS. It’s not an historic area, so so new design is welcome.- if you can afford to build a building, you’d want to build one in the style that pleases you – that’s what makes this a great country.
I thought the New School addition on 5th Ave. and 14th St. was the ugliest building in NYC, but watch out – there is lots of competition from the Upper West Side.
For all of the people commenting about the ugliness of Lincoln Towers I would like to remind you that Lincoln Towers is a very affordable coop with many amenities including 24 hour doorman, a live in super and a full staff that maintains the buildings beautifully. The rooms are twice as large as these ugly expensive buildings being erected with half of the living space.
Thank you for standing up for our community!
Think about it: Lincoln Towers’ buildings are a bit like the lobster — ugly on the outside but delicious on the inside!
Purists of the Jane Jacobs school might fault the complex for being a “super-block” … anathema to that great urban theorist … but even this is excusable because the many seating areas amidst the beautiful gardened spaces provide excellent opportunity for socializing, especially for the many senior citizens who call this place home.
I used to live in Lincoln Towers and yes, great apartments, lovely grounds and caring staff. BUT, yes they are ugly buildings.. One has to only watch the opening scene in the West Side Story movie to see what was destroyed to build those monstrosities. But, its 50 years now and we grow to love what we know..
I think this design is cutting edge and very cool – lets see how it comes out , but I the renderings are far better then most new buildings we have seen (LeStrand, new nursing home on 96th street, The “corner” at 72nd street) .
Again lets not confuse use with architecture. Yes, its your affordable home and that is great, but it can still be ugly, sorry to say
This is my backyard. Currently Lincoln Towers dominates but is tolerable thanks to a VAST open expanse and the views (from certain angles) of the Hudson, water towers, old low rises and trees. Before this is done, no more views, no more open space, worse no more sunlight. The loss of light and air is a greater loss. This new addition to the block also includes 6-day a week all day construction noise. My only consolation is that the new high-rent tenants’ views will be of my graceless light-blocking building.
BAH HUMBUG!
The asymmetry is jarring and the architectural design disturbing. Nothing beautiful to behold here. I am curious about the ease/difficulty of future sales of apartments with views of this building. The designers can do better.
Hopefully one of the “retail” stores will be alien-friendly, since the building looks like it landed from outer space.
The birds will love to roost on this building
What happened to Sweetwater’s ???? WHY ??