Carter's Review

Tower 67 at 145 West 67^th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue is an impressive 48-story apartment tower with 450 rental apartments. 

It was erected in 1986 by Amir and Eskandar Manocherian. 

Philip Birnbaum & Associates was the architect for the building, which wills the east blockfront of Amsterdam Avenue between 67^th and 68^th Streets.

Bottom Line

This tall apartment building is very close to the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts as well as excellent shopping and restaurants and good public transportation. It has a through-block driveway and a handsome plaza.

Description

The brown-brick tower has no setbacks and a polished granite, one-story base beneath the brown masonry façade that has many balconies. 

The tower occupies about 40 percent of its site and it has a 20-foot-wide, through-block driveway between 67^th and 68^th Streets and a landscaped mews designed by Abel Bainson & Associates with a cascading fountain. 

The following commentary is taken from “Privately Owned Public Space: The New York City Experience” by Jerold Kayden in collaboration with the New York City Department of City Planning and the Municipal Art Society of New York in 2000:

“The main part of this well-maintained, abundantly green residential plaza is a narrow, rectangular, through-block space connecting West 67th and 68th Streets, east of the building that occupies the full blockfront on the east side of Amsterdam Avenue. Immediately inside the West 67th Street entrance up several steps is a small, shaded seating area with long and short green fixed benches. Nearby planters embrace this nook with mature trees and bushes, and stanchion park lamps evoke an earlier era of park design. To the north, across from the entrance to the residential tower, is a two-level waterfall and pool with sittable ledge, framed by colorful flowers at top. Street sounds are masked by the water noise. Close to West 68th Street are more planters and sittable ledges. 

“Although this residential plaza is separated from its host building by a linear through-block drop-off driveway not legally part of the public space, the separation in this case does not orphan the space. With a user group composed of building residents as well as members of the public, the space achieves one of the aspirations of privately owned public space: the mixing of public and private parties, a combination desired but not always attained in the city. The usable residual space wraps around the three street sides of the building, furnishing benches and planters on both side streets and extra sidewalk on the avenue.”

Amenities

The building has a doorman and a concierge, valet service, a live-in superintendent, a 158-car garage and a driveway.

History

Thirty-three of the apartments, mostly studios, were reserved for elderly, low-income residents in the Community Board 7 district.