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1908 Westerfield 610 West 116th Street
Located in the Morningside Heights Historic District designated 21 February 2017
1908
6
$200,000.00
116th st, s s, 175 w Broadway 10-sty brk and stone apartment house, 50˙84.11
OWNER / OWNER ADDRESS
(o) Paterno Bros, Inc / (o) 616 W 116th st COMMENTS
ARCHITECT / ARCHITECT ADDRESS
(a) Schwartz & Gross / (a) 347 5th [Fifth] av (source)
610 West 116th Street (aka 608-610 West 116th Street) ( Westerfield )
Borough of Manhattan Tax Map Block 1896, Lot 77
Date(s): 1908 (NB 6-1908)
Architect(s) / Builder(s): Schwartz & Gross
Owner(s) / Developer(s): Paterno Bros.
Type: Apartment building
Style(s): Beaux Arts with Secessionist elements
Stories: 10
Material(s): Blonde brick; limestone; terra-cotta
Status: Contributing
History, Significance and Notable Characteristics
The Westerfield and Broadview were designed by the firm of Schwartz & Gross and built in 1907-08 for the Paterno Brothers, prolific apartment house builders in Morningside Heights between 1898 and 1924. The Westerfield is a ten-story Beaux Arts style apartment building with Secessionist details, including floral cast-iron balconette railings, and low-relief decorations with organic details. Beaux Arts elements include the rusticated limestone base, wide stone stoop with cheek walls, central entrance with swag and cartouche, beige brick at the upper stories, paired windows with transoms, keyed lintels, bracketed balconettes including at individual windows and full width, elaborate attic story with pediment and metal cornice.
Alterations
West 116th Street Facade: Modillions and brackets removed from cornice; wrought-iron-andglass awning removed at main entrance; non-historic addresses incised on facade; non-historic metal security grilles at first-story windows; siamese pipes at basement facade; electrical conduits at basement facade
West Facade (partially visible): Parged brick facade partially visible from fifth to tenth stories; repointing at roofline; windows replaced
Site
Two areaways flank central entrance, with stone curb and cast-iron railings, newel posts and gate; western areaway with sunken stairs and cast-iron railings
Sidewalk / Curb Materials
Concrete sidewalk and metal curb
References
N/A
(source)
The above photo is most curious. It features the architectural firm of Schwartz & Gross but clearly spelled incorrectly as Cross. One must wonder how this happens. According to Wikipedia “Schwartz & Gross was a NYC architectural firm active from at least 1901 to 1963, and which designed numerous apartment buildings in the city during the first half of the 20th century. The firm, together with the firm Neville & Bagge and the firm owned by George F. Pelham, accounted for about half the apartment houses in Manhattan’s Morningside Heights neighborhood.” The Paternos worked extensively with Schwartz & Gross and George F. Pelham.
