35 Park Avenue: Review and Ratings

Review of 35 Park Avenue by Carter Horsley

This beige-brick, 18-story apartment building at 35 Park Avenue was erected in 1955 and was designed by Sylvan and Robert Bien, who also designed Gracie Towers Apartments, Stewart House Apartments, 900 and 910 Fifth Avenue, 655 Madison Avenue and the Revlon Building.

Sylvan Bien also designed the Carlyle Hotel, 1050 Fifth Avenue, 40 East 89th Street, 605, 710, 737 and 1199 Park Avenue, 860 and 922 Fifth Avenue and the Schwab House on Riverside Drive.

It has 145 cooperative apartments and is also known as 100-102 East 36th Street.

In a December 31, 2000 article in The New York Times, Christopher Gray wrote that "Like the last Confederate soldier, there is Robert L. Bien, who entered the architectural profession at the knee of his father, Sylvan, designer of the Hotel Carlyle, built in 1930." "At 77, the younger Bien is still working, but he has a low opinion of the retro-traditional style: 'It's just a yuppie fad - there's nothing wrong with white-glazed brick buildings.'"

The younger Mr. Bien joined his father s firm in 1950 and "in the 1950's they designed buildings that fell squarely into the simply boxy look of the period," Mr. Gray observed.

The building has a one-story white stone base with an entrance canopy surrounded by polished black granite and sidewalk landscaping. It has discrete air-conditioning units, some corner windows and some terraces, laundries on each floor and a doorman.

The building, which was converted in 1970, is just to the north of the former mansion of James Hampden and Cornelia Van Rennselaer Robb at 23 Park Avenue that became the Advertising Club of New York and then was converted to apartments.

This location is the heart of Murray Hill, known for some charming sidestreets, and has excellent public transportation.