Carter's Review

This attractive, 19-story apartment building at 965 Fifth Avenue between 77^th and 78^th Streets was erected in 1941 and has 53 co-operative apartments and great sidewalk landscaping.

It was designed by Irving Margon for Kensington Estates Inc., headed by Aaron Simon and replaced the 1901 Jacob Schiff mansion that had been designed by Freeman & Train.  It was transferred in 1939 to the Blanchen Realty Corporation headed by Henry Ittleson, the founder and board chairman of the C.I.T. Financial Corporation who died in the building in 1948 at the age of 77.

It is very convenient to famed food-and-sip sanctorums such as Sant Ambroeus, Serafina and the Bemelmans Bar on Madison Avenue. 

Bottom Line

Across Fifth Avenue from Central Park and just to the north of 960 Fifth Avenue, one of the city’s most desirable buildings, this attractive edifice, which has very attractive sidewalk landscaping, has a sublime location and some wood-burning fireplaces.

Description

The beige-brick building has a three-story limestone base with a canopied entrance.  The center window on the fourth floor also has a very attractive limestone surround.

The building has discrete air-conditioners and the top four floors are each setback. 

The building has an attractive roof-top watertank enclosure.

Amenities

The building has a full-time doorman, a fitness center and a bicycle room.

Apartments

Penthouse A on the 18^th and 19^th floors has a 18-foot-wide entrance gallery on the lower level that leads to a 24-foot-wide living room with a wood-burning fireplace and a 22-foot-wide dining room with a wood-burning fireplace and both rooms have their own terraces and share a larger one.  The lower level also has a 15-foot-long library and a 17-foot-wide enclosed and windowed kitchen with a center island.  The upper level has four bedrooms and wrap-around terraces.

Apartment B on the 16 and 17^th floors has a 15-foot-wide entry gallery that leads to a 26-foot-long living room with a wood-burning fireplace and a 40-foot-wide terrace, a 15-foot-wide dining room, an 11-foot-wide breakfast room and a 14-foot-wide windowed kitchen on the lower floor and three bedrooms on the upper floor.

Apartment 2C is a two-bedroom unit with a 15-foot-wide entry foyer that leads to a 25-foot-long living room that is next to the enclosed, 17-foot-long dining room, the 14-foot-long pantry and the 13-foot-long, windowed kitchen and 11-foot-long maid’s room.

Apartment 4B is a two-bedroom unit with a 17-foot-wide entrance gallery that leads to a 25-foot-long living room with wood-burning fireplace and a 20-foot-long library, and a 20-foot-long windowed dining room with an open 12-foot-wide kitchen with a breakfast bar and a 15-foot-wide staff room.