COPYING A CANDELA CORNICE, P.2

Bettino says he knew going in that this was a Rosario Candela building. Brauner hadn't been aware of it when he moved in, in 1982, but says that "over the years I'd heard that allusion but had never pursued it. Relatively recently, before this project, I confirmed it."

Despite such prominent provenance, however, 315 West 106th Street is not a landmark, and, Brauner says, "I don't have any particular interest" in seeking to have the building landmarked.

Located on West 106th Street between West End and Riverside Avenues, the building was completed in 1925. It's one of a plethora of Upper West Side works by Candela, whose 82 buildings "defined the city's characteristic terraced setbacks and signature penthouses," according to The New York Apartment Houses of Rosario Candela and James Carpenter by Andrew Alpern (Acanthus Press, 2001). Following it and such neighbors as 755, 865, 875, 878 and 915 West End Avenues and 425 Riverside Drive, Candela would design a host of luxurious buildings on Park and Fifth Avenues, including The Stanhope Hotel, as well as such famed but long-gone structures as the Normandie Theatre at 51 East 53rd Street and the Rialto Theatre at 3 Times Square.

Following are before-and-after pictures, courtesy Midtown Preservation. Click on images for larger views.

BEFORE

AFTER