Our 20-story building sits on the west side of Fifth Avenue between Washington Square North and West Eighth Street. Building site addresses were 14-18 Washington Square North, two-eight Fifth Avenue, four-six West Eighth Street and 17-18 MacDougal Alley. Designed by architects Emery Roth and Sons for builder Samuel Rudin, the building was completed and first occupied in 1951.
The main entrance to the building is via a semi-circular driveway located mid-block on Fifth Avenue. From there, you can see the building's two sections. The twenty-story, light, glazed brick structure is the bulk of the building. The rest, a low, five-story red brick portion facing Washington Square, was designed in scale with the row of townhouses adjoining the building to the west.
On the ground floor, accessible only from the streets, are professional offices (primarily physicians), a real estate brokerage office (not affiliated with the coop) and a parking garage. The concierge desk, the lobby, mailboxes, mail+ package rooms, a library/meeting room, and a bicycle storage room are all accessible from the interior.
The basement houses the lower level of the garage and mechanical equipment areas, as well as the resident manager's office, laundry room, attended valet service, fitness center and secure storage areas for resident use.
The upper floors contain about 320 apartment units ranging from studios of roughly 650 sq. ft. to three and four bedroom penthouse duplexes of 2,000+ sq. ft. and various combined units of 3,500 sq. ft. or more.
Our building was converted from a privately owned rental property to an owner- occupied Co-op in June 1986, pursuant to a non-eviction plan under New York State law. Approximately 60 percent of the apartments were acquired by rental tenants at that time and about another 20 percent of the apartments have been sold to owner-occupants by the sponsor since then.
After the conversion, the new board scheduled and set financing for projects to restore the building's luster.
One of the first replaced the internal house phone system with a modern setup used with residents' telephones. An 800-number was also set up for building residents to contact the staff from anywhere in Manhattan.
Next came an asbestos removal and abatement project often needed in buildings constructed in the post-WWII era.
In 1988 and 1989, portions of the upper roof, cracked bricks and window sills were replaced and waterproofed.
In 1990 the lobby was renovated with help from the Forbes-Ergas design group, landing our new lobby on the cover of Habitat Magazine in October, 1991. A decorative, wrought iron fence in harmony with its neighbors and Washington Square was also added and, with the assistance of landscaper Dan Schneider, the the gardens on the Fifth Avenue and Washington Square North were re-landscaped and updated.
As concrete balconies began to show the effects of age and weather, they were stabilized and covered with aluminum facias approved by the New York City Landmarks Commission.
In 1992 and 1993, the building's 3,200 warped and rusting steel casement windows were replaced by Skyline Windows.
The co-op founded a lending library and reading room in an unused portion of the lobby corridor. Several thousand fiction, history, reference, children's books and periodicals were donated and volunteers organized and stocked the shelves. The library has since been dedicated to Tom and Carla Marcosson, in recognition for their long years of service to Two Fifth Aveunue and their founding of the library. It has become one of the building's most talked-about features and a great place to get a sense of the fellowship in the building.
In 1995, the building's four elevators were replaced with high-speed, electronically controlled ones by Armor-Kone. The labor savings alone paid for the entire project within three years.
In 1997 and 1998, the lobby was fully air-conditioned and the interior hallways received new paint, wallpaper, lighting, moldings and signage. Externally, the wooden roof top water tank (ubiquitous to New York City) was replaced, as was the hot water system in the main mechanical room. The fuel oil storage tank under the driveway repaired, sixty secure storage lockers were furnished and installed in the basement and are now fully rented to residents. The quarry tile roof atop the red brick portion of the property was completely replaced in 1997, along with the fencing separating the penthouses. In the summer of 1998, structural repairs to the garage's concrete and steel floors and ceilings were accomplished without interruption of garage service to residents and guests.
In 1999, the building's 48-year old boilers were replaced without interruption to hot water and heating services.
In the year 2000, coin-operated washers and dryers were replaced with a smart card system to use the machines without change and to pre-pay in up to $20 increments. Renovations were also made to the bicycle storage room, to improve storage space and accessibility.
In 2001, a balcony, facade and roof restoration removed and replaced tons of bricks, repoured cement on balconies, added fresh paint and reconstructed the sixth floor parapet on the Washington Square side of the building.
In September 2002, a fitness center was opened. Over 130 residents from 87 apartments registered to be charter members and current memberships sustain the facility.
Continued building updates and improvements have taken place from 2003-2008, most notably the purchase of land the building sits on which was previously leased from the managing agent. Other signficant improvements include lobby and library rennovations, installation of the KeyTrack security system, new security alarms on side access doors, and increased bicycle and storage areas in the basement.
For 2009, plans are underway to restore the exterior driveway entrance and gardens.
For those who would like to know more about co-operative housing in general, visit the Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums, the National Association of Housing Cooperatives, Cooperator Magazine and Habitat Magazine. |
