Tasteful Friends - I Give You The 1909 Belnord Apartments

I truly miss the “G-Spot Deli” which disappeared from the east side of the Belnord at street level sometime in the late 90s.

Wonder if any rent stabilized or controlled apartments remain in the Belnord.

Isaac Bashevis Singer, Zero Mostel, and jazz impresario Art D'Lugoff once lived at the Belnord.

The place has a colorful history reflecting the various fortunes of Upper West Side.

For those always going on about how pre-war Manhattan buildings are dead, and it's all about new construction, think again. Just look at prices units are getting at the Belnord.

Mind you the building is a condo, not co-op, so that may influence things a bit.

I don't like this building. I'd love to see an original full-floor plan. The plans of the renovated units are so bad I can't imagine they were ever good. The Apthorp and Astor Court have amazing plans.

It reminds me of another building where I lived once, The Bramford...

Oh, yeah. The new Martin Short and Steve Martin show is set there. I'm working through it.

He has his father's eyes!!!!!

"Shut up, I don't hear you, you're in DUBROVNIK!"

R4

Thus far best look at original floor plans are included in OP link. That image itself from another source and pretty much is all out there on Belnord as originally laid out.

IMHO the condo conversion did many units at Belnord a world of good.

Americans both early 1900's and still today aren't thrilled with rooms laid out enfilade. So the Belnord like the Astor, Dakota, Apthrop, and countless other pre-war buildings have apartments laid out around miles of interior corridors. Those hallways are great for keeping seperation between servants and family and their guests, but can lead to apartments that are a warren of rooms.

Looking at a few of the condos for sale at Belnord it seems things were opened up by combining rooms which is not totally a bad thing.

[quote]Oh, yeah. The new Martin Short and Steve Martin show is set there. I'm working through it.

They keep calling their building the "Arconia", so I figured that was a variation on the "Ansonia"

But their building could actually be one of any number of historic UWS buildings

Daytonian in Manhattan is such a great website for history nerds

R11

Isn't it? Just love Daytonian in Manhattan. Blogger digs up such detailed history of buildings and presents things in a logical and easy to follow manner.

Often wish could find out back story to some events that occurred at various properties.

NYC has some of the oldest housing stock in USA, as such when you have buildings going back to 1700's or 1800's at least there are bound to be all sorts of things that went on inside those walls.

Sadly between economics, changes in tastes along with zoning developers long ceased building grand full or even half block courtyard buildings in NYC. Advances in HVAC technology meant it was possible to rely upon mechanical ventilation instead of floor plans that relied upon cross ventilation via open windows.

By post WWII years developers who managed to assemble an entire Manhattan city block put up things like Imperial House or Manhattan House. Which when you think about it such buildings offer far better use of land than courtyard type multi-family.

Truth to tell series of historic events such as WWI and Great Depression had put a damper if not end to grand courtyard buildings in NYC. Many of these buildings in Manhattan at least ran into all sorts of fiscal problems either before being completed or not long afterwards.

Upper West Side of Manhattan from post war years through especially 1960's and into 1980's was totally different than today. From Riverside Drive to Central Park West tons of these pre-war buildings went through some very bad times. Many were filled with rent controlled or stabilized tenants paying rather low amounts for those huge apartments.

Pick one, Apthorp, Belnord, Astor, Langham, and other pre-war UWS buildings all saw similar battles between long term tenants (often rent regulated) and new owners of buildings who sought to empty places out and redevelop into luxury housing.

Mia Farrow lost her sprawling CPW pre-war apartment (it once belonged to her mother), and she wasn't alone in having to move house.

Another reason full block courtyard buildings vanished is built into NYC's zoning codes.

Using concept of transferable air rights a developer doesn't need to assemble an entire block of buildings to make money. Long as he can get air rights from adjoining properties a new building can be a tower of "X" height. This is behind all those skinny pencil thin towers up and down "Billionares' Row" and elsewhere in city.