Manhasset Apartments

History and architecture

Erected at the turn of the century, when the Upper West Side of Manhattan became the center of apartment house construction in the city, the Manhasset is one of the city's most imposing apartment houses. The building was designed and constructed in two phases.

The lower eight stories of 1899-1901 were designed by Joseph Wolf. The second phase, consisting of grand entrance pavilions and three additional stories incorporating a two-story slate-covered mansard, was added in 1901-05 by a new owner to the designs of Janes & Leo, a firm responsible for several of the Upper West Side's most prominent apartment buildings. The handsome limestone, brick, and terra-cotta Beaux-Arts style facades of the Manhasset continue to attract attention, creating an important anchor at the northern edge of the Upper West Side.

Apartment Buildings on the Upper West Side

At the turn of the century, the Upper West Side became one of the most important centers for the construction of apartment houses for middle- and upper-middle-class residents in New York City. Not only were a significant number of apartment houses erected during this era, but some of these are among New York City's finest multiple dwellings.

The most significant influence on the increase in the number of distinguished apartment buildings was the rise in land values that made the construction and purchase of single-family homes prohibitively expensive for all but the city's wealthiest elite. Land values in Manhattan rose in general in the late nineteenth century with the pressures generated by a rapidly increasing population and an expanding commercial sector on a finite amount of land. Land values on the Upper West Side were also affected by the construction of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company's subway along Broadway. The presence of the subway, with its rapid express service to Lower Manhattan, augmented the popularity of the Upper West Side, and dramatically increased the value of property, leading to a rise in apartment house construction, especially on Broadway near the new subway line.