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1911 Rexor 600 West 116th Street
NB 670-1911
Broadway, West 116th Street, southwest corner
12-sty brick and stone apartment house, 90×100.11 COST:
$500,000
OWNER:
Paterno Bros, 600 West 115th st
ARCHITECT:
G. Ajello, 1 West 34th st
ADDRESS IN REAL ESTATE RECORD:
BROADWAY, s w cor 116th st
Located in the Morningside Heights Historic District designated 21 February 2017
1911 Rexor 2951-2959 Broadway
600 West 116th Street (source)
Two years later, the Paterno Brothers. completed the development of West 116th Street with the erection of the Renaissance Revival style Rexor at the corner of Broadway (Gaetan Ajello, 1911-12) which had been preceded by the Luxor at Broadway and West 115th Street (Gaetan Ajello, 1910-11). Ajello’s designs for both buildings incorporated Renaissance inspired window sills, lintels and surrounds and metal balconies on a stone and light tan brick facade. (source)
Plans for three luxury buildins on Broadway near the Columbia campus – the Luxor, the Regnor, and the Rexor – were the brainchild of Ajello, a young Sicilian architect who had emigrated and was virtually adopted by Charles and his brothers. These three buildings were for high-class customers and were built unsparingly and with the all-Italian touch of Renaissance facades decorated in delicate pastel colors. Ajello’s signature was also expressed through the generous use of metal finishes on the facades, the oversized entrances with large glass doors, the elegant lobbies, the broad staircases concealing elevators, the spacious dining rooms, mahogany doors, large closets, and numerous electric lighting point. (Renato Cantore)
Luxor, Regnor, and Rexor on Broadway at 115th and 116th Streets
– Morningside Heights Historic District Designation Report February 21, 2017
– Luxor 1910-11 Gaetan Ajello
– Paterno Brothers (or just Joseph Paterno?)
– 12 story Renaissance Revival
– Rexor 1911-12
– STREETSCAPES A Law and the Face of the City (Grace Gold death)
address source
– Main Address 600 West 116th Street
– Side Address 2951-2959 Broadway
600 West 116th Street (aka 2951-2959 Broadway) (Rexor )
Borough of Manhattan Tax Map Block 1896, Lot 72
Date(s): 1911-12 (NB 670-1911)
Architect(s) / Builder(s): Gaetan Ajello
Owner(s) / Developer(s): Paterno Bros.
Type: Apartment with commercial ground floor
Style(s): Renaissance Revival with alterations
Stories: 12
Material(s): White brick; limestone; terra-cotta
Status: Contributing
History, Significance and Notable Characteristics
The Rexor, on the corner of West 116th Street and Broadway, and the Luxor, on the corner of West 115th Street and Broadway were designed in the Renaissance Revival style by Gaetan Ajello and built in 1911 and 1912 for the Paterno Brothers, prolific apartment house builders in Morningside Heights between 1898 and 1924. The Rexor is a mixed use building, it exhibits many Renaissance Revival style features, including a rusticated base with voussoirs over the storefront openings, central entrance with wide stone stoop, carved ornately detailed stone enframements, secondary entrance with stone stairs, ornately decorated terra-cotta window enframements with central cartouches, bracketed sills, bracketed balconettes at the upper stories, terra-cotta and stone band courses, decorative spandrel panels, and an elaborate attic story with arched windows and classical terra-cotta details.
Alterations
West 116th Street Facade: Cornice removed; several terra-cotta balconettes removed; facade repointed in several places; windows replaced; corner storefront infilled with wood; central entrance door and transom replaced; storefronts replaced; non-historic signage; non-historic light fixtures at main entrance; non-historic metal railings at entrances; some first-story window infilled with metal louvers; standpipes
Broadway Facade: Cornice removed; several terra-cotta balconettes removed; facade repointed in several places; windows replaced; eastern storefronts created sometime after 1940 to match historic storefronts on Broadway; signage; light fixtures; security cameras
West Facade: Facade repointed; metal fire escape from first story to roof
Site
Metal grille on West 116th Street; two metal access hatches and siamese hydrant on Broadway
Sidewalk / Curb Materials
Concrete sidewalk and metal curb
References
Christopher Gray, “Streetscapes: On Broadway, the Odd Threesome,” New York Times, October 15, 1995, R7.
Morningside Heights Historic District Designation Report February 21, 2017
1911
691
$625,000.00
BROADWAY, n w cor 115th st 12-sty brick stores and apartment house, 100.11˙115
OWNER / OWNER ADDRESS
(o) Paterno Bros / (o) 600 West 115th st COMMENTS
ARCHITECT / ARCHITECT ADDRESS
(a) Gaetan Ajello / (a) 1 West 34th st (source)
