Building: 68 East 93rd Street

This impeccably preserved self managed co-op in the heart of the Carnegie Hill Historic District was constructed in 1890. According to the NY Landmarks Conservancy, the building which was designed by the architect Max Hensel, was built as a well to do “bachelor building” originally consisting of five apartments.

The building was purchased in 1939 by composer Irving Berlin and his wife along with #66 East 93rd St. They never lived in either building, and local folklore has it that the Berlins once planned to raze both to erect a house for themselves. They never did, and in 1941 the building was converted from five units to ten, while the Berlins continued living on Sutton Place. The Berlins owned the building until it became a co-op in 1973. It remains a self managed building today with nine shareholder occupied apartments.

The building features beautifully detailed broad foliated spandrel reliefs between floors, deeply recessed molded window openings, rusticated stonework on the lower level, and its original modillioned metal cornice. The fire escape was added in the early postwar period.

In 2014, 68 East 93rd St. partnered with the New York Landmarks Conservancy to initiate a comprehensive facade restoration. Noted preservation architects Li-Saltzman specified the project, while Jeff Wienman of Wienman Restoration, painstakingly restored the original brownstone façade including the cornice. New LPC approved wood windows and ironwork were installed as well. Work was completed in early 2017.

The façade restoration earned the shareholders of 68 East 93rd St the Carnegie Hill Neighbors 2017 Enrichment Award given in recognition of preservation efforts in the Carnegie Hill Historic District. The block between Park and Madison Avenues where 68 East 93rd St is located is one of the most varied and important blocks in the Carnegie Hill Historic District, and is home to the Florence Baker Loew house, the Virginia Graham Fair Vanderbilt house, and the George F. Baker house among other notable structures.

This coop is self-managed with shareholder participation required.