The Central Park West Historic District is located along Central Park West, between 61st and 97th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York, US. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 9, 1982. The district encompasses a portion of the Upper West Side-Central Park West Historic District as designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, and contains a number of prominent New York City designated landmarks, including the Dakota, a National Historic Landmark. The buildings date from the late 19th century to the early 1940s and exhibit a variety of architectural styles. The majority of the district's buildings are of neo-Italian Renaissance style, but Art Deco is a popular theme as well.
History The buildings that are part of the historic district were mostly developed in the 1880s through 1930s, following the construction of Central Park. This was further spurred by the construction of the Ninth Avenue Elevated, which provided easy access to Lower Manhattan. Tenements and row houses lined Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues (formerly Tenth and Ninth Avenues, respectively), while more upscale luxury buildings were built on Central Park West (formerly Eighth Avenue). Generally, the further away a lot was from Columbus Avenue and its elevated railway, the more upscale the house was likely to become. By the early 20th century, the row houses were destroyed to make way for apartment buildings. The construction of the New York City Subway's Eighth Avenue Line in the 1920s accelerated this process of redevelopment.
The Central Park West Historic District was federally recognized on November 9, 1982, when it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It had been designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) in 1973. The LPC had previously designated a T-shaped area, which included one block of West 76th Street, two adjacent blocks of Central Park West and a short stretch of West 77th Street, as the Central Park West–76th Street Historic District. The local designation and boundaries are separate from the 1982 National Register listing.
In 1990 the LPC designated another district, which covers almost all of the area included in the boundaries of the federal historic district. The much larger Upper West Side-Central Park West Historic District includes the area from 96th Street to 62nd Street and Central Park West to Amsterdam Avenue.
Boundaries The Central Park West Historic District is a linear historic district including the stretch of Central Park West from 61st to 97th Streets. When the Upper West Side–Central Park West Historic District was designated in 1990 as a local historic district its boundaries closely mirrored those of the 1982 Central Park West Historic District, except the local historic district encompasses land stretching to Amsterdam Avenue. The federal historic district is considerably smaller than the local district.Map of Upper West Side-Central Park Historic District , New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Retrieved April 3, 2007.
Architecture The expanse of Central Park West between 61st and 97th Streets is a mixture of late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural styles. By far the district's most dominant style is Neo-Renaissance, mostly neo-Italian Renaissance though there are German and Flemish Renaissance influences found in some of the structures. Art Deco, Second Empire, Beaux-Arts and Neoclassical architecture are all found in multiple buildings. Gothic and Romanesque Revival influences can be found combined with other styles in some of the buildings as well as on their own. A few Queen Anne, Art Moderne and Italianate buildings dot the streetscape of Central Park West.
Structures Of the buildings within the boundaries of the historic district only one was considered a non-contributing property to the historic character of the district when it was nominated to the National Register: the building located at 80 Central Park West, a 1965 modern building. The area within the district is home to nearly 40 high-quality, luxury apartment highrises. Sprinkled within the residential buildings are four Christian churches, one synagogue, several smaller-scale, multi-family houses, the New York Society for Ethical Culture, the New York Historical Society and the American Museum of Natural History.The list contains information on each structure including, its common name. If the building doesn't have a general common name that can be attributed to a reliable source then the address is substituted. The address is listed for each structure because it provides a general reference point to navigate the structures of the historic district. The list's default sort orders the properties as they are on the street, from low numbered blocks (e.g. 15 Central Park West) to high numbered blocks (e.g. 336 Central Park West). Properties with addresses on streets other than Central Park West also follow this order and are in place on the list as they would appear if the historic district were walked through. Linked information on each building's major architectural themes is also listed. Following the date of construction the architect or architects names are listed. Any pertinent remarks are listed in the last column.
Contributing properties These properties are contributing properties that add to the character of the Central Park West Historic District.
Building name Address Architecture Built Architect(s) Remarks Mayflower Hotel15 Central Park WestNeo-Renaissance 1926 Emery Roth Demolished in 2004 to make way for what is now 15 Central Park West.The CenturyBrockmann, Jorg et al. (2002). 25 Central Park West Art Deco 1931 Irwin S. Chanin At 30 floors, one of three buildings tied for the title of the district's tallest. It was constructed at a cost of $6.5 million and designed by the firm owned by Irwin S. Chanin. The Century apartment building is located on the former site of the Century Theatre, which was demolished in 1930 and 1931 to make way for the apartments. The building is one of three within the boundaries of the historic district that stretch upwards 30 floors, thus tying it for the title of the district's tallest building. Also an individual LPC landmark.