The Sidney Rubell Building
The Chelsea real estate firm of Sidney Rubell is situated in a remarkably handsome building on W. 23rd Street. The bay windows on 348 W 23rd Street go all the way up to the third floor and each floor is separated by a carved wood panel that runs nearly the length of the building.
The side windows, set at a slant, are made of gracefully curved panes of glass of a sort you just don't see anymore. Obviously, the window are originals, and haven't been replaced by some cookie-cutter modern replacements. Framing each set of windows on the left and the right is remarkably detailed plasterwork.
Under the second floor windows is further plasterwork with a sort of mock coat of arms.
I wish I knew more about this building. It's so beautiful. Then again, maybe all the buildings on W. 23rd Street were once as attractive. All I have discovered is this address was apartments in earlier decades, and the ground floor held a doctor's office. The Rubell company is an old, family-owned concern which has been doing business in Chelsea for 65 years. As far as I can tell, it's been in this building for a half a century.
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3 comments:
I used to live in a building with curved windows like that. It was a landmark, so they couldn't be changed. Lovely though they were, boy were they ever leaky. Snow would blow inside when it was windy.
From the photo, it seems that Rubell's have replaced them on floors above the first.
That three-story bay window is something fierce. It's crazy to think that almost ALL the buildings were this ornate back in the day.
It is. It is also tragic. It's within our power to be that same city. But developers take the cheapo way out every time now; they have no pride in their buildings, only see the dollar sign. And today's architects lack inspiration and principles; they are brought to heel by crass moneymen's demands.
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