200 Central Park South is a Modern-style building on the south side of

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, at the corner of 7th Avenue and Central Park South ( 59th Street). It is most notable for its curving facade, banded by balconies. Its exterior is beige brick and glass. It is across from a major pedestrian and vehicle entrance into Central Park, known as the "Merchant's Gate". This full service building was completed in 1963 by

Bernard Spitzer Bernard Emmanuel Spitzer (April 26, 1924 – November 1, 2014) was an American real estate developer and philanthropist. Early life and education Spitzer was born to Molly and Morris Spitzer, Jewish Austrian immigrants

and Melvin Lipman. It was designed by Wechsler & Schimenti.

Architecture

The building contains a curved facade and is lined with terraces that taper in, then curve, and taper out as they wrap around the two faces of the building. The curved base gives views of Central Park to more apartments. Spitzer reportedly got the idea for the curve from the curve drawn by a pencil thrown in frustration. Its tapered balconies have been said to give it a

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

feel. The base rises 21 stories, while its tower is set back, and brings it up 14 more floors. As of 2016 it is a full-service residential co-op apartment building. This Midtown West building currently has 309 apartments spanning 34 floors. Amenities for its residents include a roof deck, elevator operators, maid service, valet, garage, and concierge.
with photo showing Central Park-facing facade In 2016, it is rated as the #2 co-op building in Midtown, and #13 in Manhattan, according to CityRealty., with photo centered on the curve, showing both flanks The building’s design was explained by Robert A. M. Stern, Thomas Mellins and David Fishman in their book, ''New York 1960'' as "a kind of aggressive, self-referential

Modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

that had hitherto been largely absent from Manhattan." Horsley asserts it resembles the Fontainebleau Hotel (1954), in Miami, designed by

Morris Lapidus Morris Lapidus (November 25, 1902 – January 18, 2001) was an architect, primarily known for his Neo-baroque "Miami Modern" hotels constructed in the 1950s and 60s, which have since come to define that era's resort-hotel style, synonymous w ...

. The building sits across Seventh Avenue from the

New York Athletic Club The New York Athletic Club is a private social club and athletic club in New York state. Founded in 1868, the club has approximately 8,600 members and two facilities: the City House, located at 180 Central Park South in Manhattan, and Travers ...

, to the east. It is also near

Alwyn Court The Alwyn Court, also known as The Alwyn, is an apartment building at 180 West 58th Street, at the southeast corner with Seventh Avenue, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The Alwyn Court was built between 1907 and 1909 ...

to the southeast, the Saint Thomas Choir School to the south, and

220 Central Park South 220 Central Park South is a residential skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, situated along Billionaires' Row on the south side of Central Park South between Broadway and Seventh Avenue. 220 Central Park South was designed by Rob ...

to the west.

Residents

Residents have included: * Raquel Welch * Dino De Laurentiis *

Durward Kirby Homer Durward Kirby (August 24, 1911 – March 15, 2000), sometimes misspelled Durwood Kirby, was an American television host and announcer. He is best remembered for ''The Garry Moore Show'' in the 1950s and '' Candid Camera'', which he ...

* Al Roker * Doris Roberts *

Bill Bradley William Warren Bradley (born July 28, 1943) is an American politician and former professional basketball player. He served three terms as a Democratic U.S. senator from New Jersey (1979–1997). He ran for the Democratic Party's nomination f ...

Elizabeth Ray Elizabeth Ray (born Betty Lou Ray on May 14, 1943, in Marshall, North Carolina) was the central figure in a much-publicized sex scandal in 1976 that ended the career of U.S. Rep. Wayne Hays (D-Ohio). ''The Washington Post'' reported that Ray had ...

Jacqueline Susann Jacqueline Susann (August 20, 1918 – September 21, 1974) was an American novelist and actress. Her iconic novel, '' Valley of the Dolls'' (1966), is one of the best-selling books in publishing history. With her two subsequent works, '' The Lov ...

References

Notes

Citations

{{Coord, 40.766736, -73.979887, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-NY, display=title Apartment buildings in New York City Residential buildings completed in 1965 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan) Midtown Manhattan Residential buildings in Manhattan 59th Street (Manhattan)