737 Park Avenue

Building Name

737 Park Avenue

Architect

Sylvan Bien

Year(s) Built

1940

Designation

Upper East Side Historic District

737 Park Avenue
737 Park Avenue
Project Information:

A Classicizing Art-Deco style apartment building designed by Sylvan Bien and built in 1940. Application is to replace doors, refinish the window grilles, replace light fixtures, and modify the canopy.

CB8 Hearing: 05/22/13 (Approved)
LPC Hearing: 06/25/13 (No Action)

Other projects: July 10, 2012; March 5, 2013;April 23, 2013; 2017

FRIENDS' Testimony:

The doors, window grilles, and light fixtures at 737 Park Avenue are consistent with and are original to the 1940 Sylvan Bien design. Therefore, the FRIENDS Preservation Committee finds no justification in replacing this fabric if it can be restored and reused. Although the applicant asserts that the main entrance doors are irreparable, the historic door grilles could be incorporated into new doors or the original doors could be recreated. The Classicizing Art-Deco lanterns can similarly be restored and integrated into the new design. In addition, although several of the secondary entrance doors seem as if they have been altered, many retain the original grilles, and these could be used as a model for a new door instead of introducing a new decorative motif based on the Greek key.

Rather than preserving these original details in a piecemeal fashion, the Preservation Committee at FRIENDS asks that the Commission work with the applicant in retaining as much of the 1940 Sylvan Bien design as possible.