55 Central Park West - Wikipedia

Residential building in Manhattan, New York United States historic place

55 Central Park West
U.S. Historic district – Contributing property
55 Central Park West and (to its left) Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
Show map of New York CityShow map of New YorkShow map of the United States
Location	Upper West Side, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
Coordinates	40°46′20″N 73°58′45″W / 40.77223447°N 73.9791438°W / 40.77223447; -73.9791438
Built	1929 (1929)
Architect	Schwartz & Gross
Architectural style	Art Deco
Part of	Central Park West Historic District (ID82001189[1])
Added to NRHP	November 9, 1982[1]

55 Central Park West is a 19-floor housing cooperative on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Built in 1929, it was designed by the architectural firm Schwartz & Gross.[2] The building is a contributing property within the Central Park West Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building was popularized by the 1984 film Ghostbusters, whose storyline revolves heavily around it.

History

[edit]

Plans for the building, between 65th and 66th Streets, were filed by architectural firm Schwartz & Gross at the behest of Victor Earle and John C. Calhoun, for whom they were working. Earle, and his brother Guyon, had been actively developing the Upper West Side of New York City since the 1910s.[3]

The structure is considered to be mostly "second tier"[4] by the socialite New Yorkers who occupy most of the buildings along Central Park West. It was opened as a rental property in 1930. Its neighbor to the south is the earlier Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. Upon its opening Real Estate magazine praised it as resembling "Jungfrau, that most beloved snowcapped Alpine peak."[4]

Musician Rudy Vallee and industrial designer Raymond Loewy were two of the building's earliest residents.[4] Ginger Rogers was one of its residents during her Broadway days in the early 1930s.[5] Hat designer Lilly Dache with husband Jean Despres of Coty Perfume were residents following their 1931 marriage until 1935. Other residents of the building have included Donna Karan,[6] Calvin Klein, Ring Lardner, Jr., and Marsha Mason.[7] The duplex penthouse on the 19th and 20th floors was owned by composer Jerry Herman in the 1970s, before he sold it for $1 million to Klein (who later sold it, and then bought it again in the 1990s). David Geffen later purchased it for $6 million, before selling it for $8.6 million to music executive Steve Gottlieb, who in turn listed it the week his record label TVT Records filed for bankruptcy.[7][8] He sold the apartment to Marc Lasry (co-founder and CEO of the Avenue Capital Group) for $33 million in 2014.[7][8][9]

Architecture

[edit]

The building was the first fully Art Deco structure on the street.[3]

Facade

[edit]

The exterior of the building is somewhat non-traditional. As the brick facade rises from the ground it changes shade from deep purple to yellow-white. Color was widely used during the 1920s as a tool in architecture for overall effects. The rental brochure stated: "new modernistic design of exterior with beautiful shaded color scheme". The New Yorker's architecture critic, George S. Chappell, praised the building's use of color, said, "the total effect is exhilarating."[3]

Interior

[edit]

When the building opened in 1930 it had apartments ranging from three to nine rooms, the largest of which had four bedrooms. The apartments featured a dropped living room, developed by the Earle brothers, which set the interior apart from most others constructed around the same period. An original rental brochure shows the dropped living room nearly entirely open to the entrance gallery; traditionally the gallery was held as a different room.[3]

Significance

[edit]

The building is a contributing property to the Central Park West Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 9, 1982.[1][10] It is also a contributing property to the New York City's Upper West Side / Central Park West local historic district. Benjamin Schwarz, writing for The Atlantic, said of the buildings along Central Park West, "no endeavor on earth is more arduous than getting into one of these buildings," and specifically cited the "details of Donna Karan's deal for her digs at 55 Central Park West."[6]

The building holds significance in American popular culture as it was prominently featured in the 1984 comedy Ghostbusters. In the film, "550 Central Park West" – known also as The Shandor Building, The Shandor Apartments or "Spook Central" – was the residence of the Ghostbusters' first client, cellist Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver). They later learn it had been designed and constructed by insane architect and surgeon Ivo Shandor, who founded and led a secret society in 1920, The Cult of Gozer, dedicated to the worship of Gozer the Gozerian.[11] Since Ghostbusters first hit theaters, 55 Central Park West has been known as the "Ghostbusters Building". The building's appearance in the film differs from its actual appearance.[4][11] Eight additional floors and a large rooftop temple were added to exterior shots of it via matte painting by Production designer/Art director John DeCuir. The Gozerian Temple consisted of its massive, ornate shrine, altars, obelisks and the iconic gargoyle statues depicting the Terror Dogs, Zuul the Gatekeeper and Vinz Clortho the Keymaster.[12]

The building also appears in the 2003 Christmas film Elf, as the home of Buddy’s human family.

References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. ^ White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot (2000). AIA Guide to New York City (4th ed.). New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 978-0-8129-3107-5.
3. ^ a b c d Gray, Christopher (July 11, 1999). "Streetscapes / 55 Central Park West; The Changing Colors of an Art Deco Landmark". The New York Times. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
4. ^ a b c d Gaines, Steven (November 7, 2005). One Apartment, 75 Years". New York. Retrieved April 3, 2007.
5. ^ Lynch, Geoffrey (2014). Manhattan Classic: New York's Finest Prewar Apartments. ISBN 9781616892678.
6. ^ a b Schwarz, Benjamin (May 2005). "Eminent Domains". The Atlantic. Retrieved April 3, 2007.
7. ^ a b c Finn, Robin (October 19, 2012). "Exclusive: 55 Central Park West – Coveted by Many, Lived In by Few". The New York Times. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
8. ^ a b Green, Stanley (January 29, 2014). "Marc Lasry Pays $33 Million For a Duplex Penthouse on Manhattan's Central Park West". Jewish Business News.
9. ^ Abelson, Max (March 4, 2008). "Central Park West's Priciest Listing—Now You See It, Now You Don't". Observer.
10. ^ "Central Park West Historic District" Archived July 24, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. (Java), National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form Archived November 12, 2005, at the Wayback Machine, New York's State and National Register of Historic Places Document Imaging Project, New York State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved April 3, 2007.
11. ^ a b Aykroyd, Dan; Ramis, Harold; Reitman, Ivan (Director). Ghostbusters (Film). New York City: Columbia Pictures., June 8, 1984.
12. ^ Wallace, Daniel (October 27, 2015). Ghostbusters: The Ultimate Visual History, Insight Editions. San Rafael, California. pp. 31–32, 38–39, 48. ISBN 978-1608875108

External links

[edit] Wikimedia Commons has media related to 55 Central Park West.

• 55 Central Park West profile on City Realty.com

v t e Upper West Side (including Lincoln Square, Manhattan Valley, Riverside South)
Manhattan, New York City
Buildings 59th–72nd Sts 1 Lincoln Plaza 1 Riverside Park 5 West 63rd Street 15 Central Park West 27 West 67th Street 50 West 66th Street 55 Central Park West 101 Central Park West 200 Amsterdam Bradford Hotel The Brentmore The Century Deutsche Bank Center The Dorilton Empire Hotel First Battery Armory Harperly Hall IRT Powerhouse Hotel des Artistes Lincoln Towers The Majestic Millennium Tower Park Loggia The Prasada Pythian Temple The Sofia Trump International Hotel and Tower Waterline Square 72nd–86th Sts 257 Central Park West 520 West End Avenue The Ansonia The Apthorp Apple Bank Building The Astor Hotel Beacon Hotel Belleclaire The Beresford Bretton Hall The Dakota Endicott Hotel The Greystone The Kenilworth The Langham The Level Club Olcott Hotel Public School 9 Red House Rossleigh Court The San Remo 86th–110th Sts 161 West 93rd Street 353 Central Park West 360 Central Park West 370 Riverside Drive 601 West End Avenue The Ariel Association Residence Nursing Home Astor Court Building The Belnord Claremont Riding Academy Cleburne Building Columbus Square The Cornwall The El Dorado Frederick Douglass Houses Hotel Marseilles Hotel Paris Isaac L. Rice Mansion The Manhasset Master Apartments New York Cancer Hospital The Normandy Pomander Walk Schinasi Mansion The Turin Former Apthorp Farm Astor Market Charles M. Schwab House Lincoln Arcade Somerindyck House
Culture Shops, restaurants Asiate Atlantic Grill Barney Greengrass Essential by Christophe Jean-Georges Lucciola Masa Murray's Sturgeon Shop Per Se Salumeria Rosi Parmacotto Zabar's Museums American Museum of Natural History Children's Museum of Manhattan Museum of Biblical Art New York Historical Theaters/performing arts Arclight Theatre Beacon Theatre Stand Up NY Symphony Space Triad Theatre Lincoln Center Alice Tully Hall David Geffen Hall David H. Koch Theater Rose Hall Metropolitan Opera House Vivian Beaumont Theater Walter Reade Theater Former Andanada Café des Artistes Century Theatre Dovetail Eighty One Metro Theater Mikell's Nicholas Roerich Museum A Photographer's Gallery Telepan
Green spaces and recreation Central Park Damrosch Park Riverside Park Sherman Square Septuagesimo Uno Verdi Square West Side Community Garden
Education Primary and secondary The Anderson School PS 334 Calhoun School Collegiate School Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School Dwight School Edward A. Reynolds West Side High School Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School Gateway School Innovation Diploma Plus High School Manhattan Day School PS 9 Sarah Anderson School PS 166 The School at Columbia University Solomon Schechter School of Manhattan Stephen Gaynor School Studio Maestro Trinity School Post-secondary Bard Graduate Center Fordham University School of Law William E. Macaulay Honors College Yeshivat Hadar Music schools Bloomingdale School of Music Kaufman Music Center Mannes School of Music
Religion Churches, chapels Advent Lutheran Church All Angels' Church Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church Broadway United Church of Christ Christ & Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew Church of the Ascension, Roman Catholic Church of the Blessed Sacrament First Baptist Church in the City of New York First Church of Christ, Scientist Fourth Universalist Society in the City of New York Holy Name of Jesus Roman Catholic Church Holy Trinity Church Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Rutgers Presbyterian Church St. Agnes Chapel St. Gregory the Great Church St. Ignatius of Antioch Church St. Michael's Episcopal Church Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church of Manhattan West End Collegiate Church West-Park Presbyterian Church Synagogues Ansche Chesed B'nai Jeshurun Congregation Habonim Congregation Ohab Zedek Congregation Rodeph Sholom Congregation Shaare Zedek Congregation Shearith Israel Jewish Center Lincoln Square Synagogue Ramath Orah Riverside Memorial Chapel Stephen Wise Free Synagogue
Transportation Subway stations 59th Street–Columbus Circle 66th Street–Lincoln Center 72nd Street/Central Park West 72nd Street/Broadway 79th Street 81st Street–Museum of Natural History 86th Street/Central Park West 86th Street/Broadway 96th Street/Central Park West 96th Street/Broadway 103rd Street/Central Park West 103rd Street/Broadway Cathedral Parkway–110th Street/Central Park West Cathedral Parkway–110th Street/Broadway Streets 66th Street 72nd Street 74th Street 79th Street 85th Street 89th Street 95th Street 96th Street Amsterdam Avenue Broadway Central Park West Columbus Avenue Columbus Circle Frederick Douglass Circle Riverside Drive West End Avenue Other New York Central Railroad 69th Street Transfer Bridge 79th Street Boat Basin
Related topics Central Park West Historic District Manhattantown San Juan Hill
See also: Manhattan Community Board 7

v t e U.S. National Register of Historic Places in New York
Topics	Contributing property Keeper of the Register Historic district History of the National Register of Historic Places National Park Service Property types
Listsby county	Albany Allegany Bronx Broome Cattaraugus Cayuga Chautauqua Chemung Chenango Clinton Columbia Cortland Delaware Dutchess Erie Essex Franklin Fulton Genesee Greene Hamilton Herkimer Jefferson Kings (Brooklyn) Lewis Livingston Madison Monroe Montgomery Nassau New York (Manhattan) Niagara Oneida Onondaga Ontario Orange Orleans Oswego Otsego Putnam Queens Rensselaer Richmond (Staten Island) Rockland Saratoga Schenectady Schoharie Schuyler Seneca St. Lawrence Steuben Suffolk Sullivan Tioga Tompkins Ulster Warren Washington Wayne Westchester Northern Southern Wyoming Yates
Listsby city	Albany Buffalo New Rochelle New York City Bronx Brooklyn Queens Staten Island Manhattan Below 14th St. 14th–59th St. 59th–110th St. Above 110th St. Minor islands Niagara Falls Peekskill Poughkeepsie Rhinebeck Rochester Syracuse Yonkers
Other lists	Bridges and tunnels National Historic Landmarks New York City Outside New York City
Category List National Register of Historic Places Portal

v t e Ghostbusters
Films	Ghostbusters (1984) Ghostbusters II (1989) Ghostbusters (2016) Afterlife (2021) Frozen Empire (2024)
Television	The Real Ghostbusters (1986–1991) episodes Extreme Ghostbusters (1997)
Characters	Peter Venkman Ray Stantz Egon Spengler Winston Zeddemore Janine Melnitz Slimer Stay Puft Marshmallow Man
Music	Ghostbusters (1984) Theme song Ghostbusters II "On Our Own" Ghostbusters (2016) "Good Girls" "Girls Talk Boys" Afterlife Frozen Empire
Video games	Ghostbusters (1984) The Real Ghostbusters (1987) Ghostbusters II (1989, PC) Ghostbusters II (1990, NES) Ghostbusters (1990) New Ghostbusters II (1990) The Real Ghostbusters (1993) The Video Game (2009) Sanctum of Slime (2011) Ghostbusters (2013) Ghostbusters (2016) Spirits Unleashed (2022) Rise of the Ghost Lord (2023)
Comics	The Real Ghostbusters (1988) Legion (2004) Infestation (2011) Transformers/Ghostbusters (2019) Crossover (2020–2022) Back in Town (2024) Dead Man's Chest (2025)
Related	Ghostheads Ghost Corps Proton pack Ectomobile Role-playing game Pinball machine Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue The Earth Day Special Zuul "Bustin" Lego Ghostbusters Firehouse, Hook & Ladder Company 8 Fire Station No. 23 55 Central Park West Cleanin' Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters
Category