A stormy night last week. Photo by Wilke See-Tho.
August 16, 2021 Weather: Partly cloudy, with a high of 80 degrees.
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News:
The scaffolding and netting were recently removed from 212 West 93rd Street, between Amsterdam and Broadway, revealing a structure that is “a significant departure from the surrounding architecture of the Upper West Side, making it stand out despite its modest height,” according to YIMBY. Whether it stands out in a good or bad way is the beholder’s call. Photographs show “a modern massing of stepped and cantilevering volumes, oversized floor-to-ceiling windows, and light-colored beveled frames.” The property was sold to developers by Shaare Zedek Synagogue, which will have a first-floor home there with a separate door.
The extraordinary connection between Barry the barred owl, who died tragically last week in Central Park, and New Yorkers at the epicenter of a raging pandemic is explored by Michiko Kakutani in The New York Times. “No one ever forgot that Barry was a wild creature, but I could not help but think of the relationship she developed with her humans as akin to what the fox in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s “The Little Prince” meant when he asked the little Prince to “tame” him — “tame” as in “to create ties,” to forge a friendship based on familiarity and routine.”
The 20 floors that a judge once ruled should be lopped off the top of 200 Amsterdam Avenue for zoning violations are instead filling up amid a resurgence of “deep-pocketed buyers,” wrote Global Mansions, as another penthouse at the controversial condo went into contract. “The buyers are local…and were drawn to the building’s location and the character of the neighborhood. The development is located between West 67th and West 68th streets, steps from Lincoln Center and two blocks from Central Park. The views include the Midtown skyline, Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, the Hudson River and the George Washington Bridge.”
The first reviews are in for Merry Wives, the Shakespeare in the Park play. The New Yorker’s Alexandra Schwartz liked it, though noted its flaws too: “This production, directed by Saheem Ali, doesn’t redeem the play’s faults; the comedy is still broad, the characters as flat as poster-board puppets. It does, however, yield new strengths.” In addition, Schwartz reviewed a “jogging” play in the park called Endure: Run Woman Show, “which follows the story, and the course, of a nameless marathoner as she wends her way along a three-mile path deftly plotted across the south side of the Park, invites willing audience members to jog along. When I saw the production, late on an overcast Wednesday afternoon, a handful of intrepid souls had shown up in spandex—though it was a relief, as a person who considers running a marathon and vacationing on the moon equally plausible pursuits, to be assured, in a friendly, pre-show spiel by the director, Suchan Vodoor, that walking would also suffice.”
imo 212W93 looks great!
Re the frequently voiced fears that 200 Amsterdam and all new skyscrapers are exclusively for money laundering foreign billionaires: “The buyers are local, according to Ms. Mangone, and were drawn to the building’s location and the character of the neighborhood.”
Definitely! AND:
1. 200’s frontage on Amsterdam is a wonderful asset to the street-scape. There is now a newly-repaved wide sidewalk plus planters with trees and flowers.
2. Seen from farther away (midtown or the East Side) 200, with its classic ziggurat of setbacks on the upper floors is an attractive addition to the skyline, vastly better than some of the super-talls like 432 Park Ave.
3. 200 is a done-deal, one that makes this part of the nabe a little more classy.
I agree, 200 Amsterdam is nice at street-level and at the very top. Unfortunately it is absolutely charmless in the middle, demonstrating almost zero design intelligence along its prominent side and rear facades. At least Ariel East (the closest comparison) tried to be clever, with its red terra cotta lines paying direct homage to the Metro Theater below. 200 Amsterdam is merely awkward and cheap-looking, the Raymour and Flanigan of buildings. But…I guess Raymour & Flanigan *has* done pretty well in this neighborhood…
I doubt 200 Amsterdam Avenue is “filling up”. The article linked only refers to one large apartment that was sold to a wealthy family. There is no information provided for overall sales for the building.
There is already a huge glut of high end apartments and and even before the pandemic developers were having trouble selling and renting apartments in luxury buildings.
I walk by this building almost every day. Aside from the doormen I never see anyone going in or out.
I facing the bldg across the street. All windows are lit up in the evening and it is completely empty.
200 Amsterdam Avenue is located on the west side of Amsterdam Avenue between West 69th and 70th Streets. The property was the former home of the Lincoln Square Synagogue which now occupies the two blocks between West 67th and 68th Streets.
I wonder if anyone has warned prospective buyers about the almost nightly “parades” of motor cycles, ATVs, and dirt bikes riding up Amsterdam Avenue and down Broadway (WSG, April 28, 2021). Those “parades” haven’t stopped. The noise is deafening and the riders run lights, drive up on the sidewalks, and threaten pedestrians.
To answer your question:212 West 93rd Street stands out in a bad way.
Who on earth are you kidding with “the character of the neighborhood”? It’s rampant with aggressive homeless panhandlers, filthy streets, and eyesores galore. New “Fairway” uses sidewalk as their storage facility and no one can remove their garbage. Across the street from the bldg. is McDonalds and a pizza place with dirty tables and homeless hanging out on mattresses. Ask the doormen-they are shocked that anyone would pay those prices for this neighborhood. One particular doorman has admitted to us that he previously worked UES and has never seen such deviant people wandering around not to mention the filth on the streets here. Locals…not a chance. We’re trying to get out.
I was undecided on this issue until the doorman weighed in. Because he’s obviously a real estate expert, too.
Awesome photo by Wilke See-Tho!
212 w 93 street.
Multi Million dollar apartments will face the constant messy garbage piles and rats on the block. I hope the millionaires figure out how to be good neighbors and help the rundown neglected New York City housing playground and building across the street. Such a pitiful block. New York City Housing Authority should be ashamed how mismanaged.
Really exceptional photo! What a shot to catch. Thank you for sharing. These storms crashing through every so often have been huge. ( um…Pauses here to spare a thought for the folks caught northeast of the UWS on Orchard Beach in crazy lightning the other afternoon and the poor family who lost their son. Stay safe everyone, including photographers.)