Carter's Review

This large, 23-story condominium occupying the Broadway blockfront between 83rd and 84th Streets is known as the Bromley.

Designed by Costas Kondylis of Philip Birnbaum & Associates, this red-brick, 308-unit building is most notable for its oculi - circular openings and motifs - on its top five floors and around much of its base above the retail spaces and in the middle of a three-story, white-colored base.

Bottom Line

The building, which was completed in 1986, and developed by William L. Haines and Haseko, Inc., has an impressive presence and the abundance of oculi is quite remarkable.

Description

The red-brick façade is very rhythmic with relatively deep recesses providing many corner windows, even in the middle of the building, below the terraced top floors.

Amenities

The building has a garage, a health club, a doorman, a concierge, a roof deck, and a bicycle room. It has many terraces, but lacks balconies and sidewalk landscaping.

History

The building is on the former site of the Loew's 83rd Street theater, designed in 1921 by Thomas W. Lamb, and it now contains the Loew's 84th Street Sixplex, designed by Heid & Rubin. The six-plex, one of the first major multiplexes on the West Side, contains about 2,975 seats, and it is one of the more popular ones in Manhattan.

In their definitive "A.I.A. Guide to New York City, Third Edition," (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988), Elliot Willensky and Norval White remarked that this building is "a chunky filler of Broadway's belly," adding that "Post Modern green glazing with limestone gives a graceful edge to West 83rd Street and a serrated neo-Dutch profile."

Location

There is good public transportation in the area, which also has a Barnes & Noble bookstore and Zabar's, the famous food store, nearby.