Façade work has reached the crown of 200 Amsterdam Avenue, the Upper West Side’s tallest skyscraper. The 52-story, 283,000-square-foot project is being developed by SJP Properties and Mitsui Fudosan America and is designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects with CetraRuddy as the interior designer. Despite heated opposition from NIMBY civic organizations led by the Municipal Arts Society and a ruling by a Supreme State Court Judge that could lead to a reduction of 20 or more floors from the top half of the structure, construction is still continuing as planned.
200 Amsterdam Avenue. Photo by Tectonic
Nearly all of the reinforced concrete walls that make up the egress cores of the upper floors on the flatter western elevation have been enclosed in the curtain wall. A close-up photograph by Tectonic reveals that several glass panels have begun installation on the crown, and are covered in blue protective film. There are only about four to five stories left to be clad before reaching the pinnacle.
200 Amsterdam Avenue. Photo by Tectonic
200 Amsterdam Avenue. Photo by Tectonic
200 Amsterdam Avenue. Photo by Tectonic
The main eastern profile is not too far behind.
200 Amsterdam Avenue. Photo by Tectonic
200 Amsterdam Avenue. Photo by Tectonic
200 Amsterdam Avenue. Photo by Tectonic
Some of the metallic ground-floor panels, which feature an Art Deco-style diamond pattern, have also been installed.
200 Amsterdam Avenue. Photo by Tectonic
200 Amsterdam Avenue. Photo by Tectonic
200 Amsterdam Avenue. Photo by Tectonic
Most of 200 Amsterdam’s units will provide sweeping views of Central Park and Midtown to the east and south, while those facing north and west have views looking up the Hudson River and toward the upper tip of Manhattan. Amenities will include “The Spa at 200,” which will feature a 75-foot-long indoor saltwater swimming pool and a mosaic-patterned whirlpool, a fitness center curated by The Wright Fit, a treatment room for facials and massages, a golf simulator, his and hers steam rooms, and a dog spa. “The Club at 200” will come with a 24-hour doorman and attended lobby with a live-in manager, a club room with a billiards table and bar, personalized concierge services, a children’s room called “The Little Composer’s Room,” storage, an outdoor terrace, a residential lounge for dining and entertaining, a study room, a library, and a soundproof music rehearsal room.
YIMBY last reported that the developers are in the process of appealing the decision to deconstruct the upper levels. 200 Amsterdam was slated to be finished sometime this year, but this is subject to change.
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Nothing will get ‘deconstructed’..at most those contested floors will remain unoccupied until..
200 Amsterdam’s design is excellent, no doubt about it. But, of course it is understandable that Upper West Side residents are very upset about how the developers cheated their way through to make 200 Amsterdam the way it stands now. However, deconstructing more than 20 floors off a already topped out skyscraper doesn’t seem reasonable to me. Hopefully these plans do not move forward and 200 Amsterdam completes as planned.
How did they cheat? They were issued building permits by NYC…hello.
Everyone thinks they know everything and always take sides against developers and real estate owners.
This adds lots of beauty to the Manhattan skyline and the crown is unique compared to all the standard buildings. Should not be reduced in size.
This is a very handsome tower, and a great addition to the West Side. And obviously it will never be “deconstructed”. Worst case scenario is that the city somehow becomes responsible for not understanding its own zoning code for the last half-century and has to legalize the structure through the Board of Standards and Appeals.
Hopefully, this building will never need to be “legalized” at the BSA. The lower Court erred, legislated from the Bench, and its decision against the size of this building should be overruled. The City’s land use agencies (Department of City Planning, Department of Buildings, and Board of Standards and Appeals) well understand the Zoning Resolution. That is why the City has for decades consistently allowed (in hundreds, if not thousands of other similar situations) the zoning lot merger procedure used here which enabled the excess and unused development rights from adjacent parcels to be transferred to this site.
mitch gets it. the DOB’s determination that the 200 amsterdam zoning lot was validly formed actually occurred long before 200 amsterdam was ever applied-for and granted a building permit. multiple other buildings on the same zoning lot rely on the zoning lot. the DOB determined that the zoning lot was proper decades ago, when those older, now fully occupied buildings were built. it was a reasonable interpretation by the DOB of the relevant zoning provisions to find that the zoning lot was proper then, and it remained a reasonable interpretation by the DOB that the zoning lot was proper now. BSA then rightly upheld the DOBs interpretation. what grounds – both in administrative law and in practical expertise – did the court have to find that these municipal agencies, who, like mitch notes, are staffed with experts in NYC zoning when the court is not, to find these municipal agencies acted “arbitrarily and capriciously”?
it was a ridiculous ruling that will set a dangerous precedent in our City if upheld on appeal.
Hopefully, the unjustified and utterly ridiculous decision of the the lower court will be completely overruled and not an inch to be razed from the top of this building. Those who do not like tall towers, the current situation with the ongoing pandemic presents a marvelous opportunity to permanently leave the city.
I agree with 100%…imagine living in a forest and opposing the growth of tall trees.
LOL
I agree with the people posting above. It would seem to me an unnecessarily wasteful and dangerous exercise to lop off 20 floors. The city planners need to get their act together. If they objected to the height of this tower they had ample time to do so before it was out of the ground.
Years ago, a certain element on the Upper Eastside forced the jackhammering-off of 12 stories of a new building on the south side of East 96th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues. They then allowed the square footage removed to be built on a planned vest pocket park between the building and a branch of the NY Public Library to the east of it. I live in the area and can readily testify that the community was the biggest loser from this terrible decision to lower the building and eliminate the park.
The argument being made is that the FAR allocation is invalid because of how pieces from here and there throughout the block were linked together. It was done perfectly legally, irrespective of the incompetent judge W. Franc Perry’s displeasure who improperly ruled.
Be that as it may, if the ruling holds up then the FAR total has to be reduced. That should not mean having to take off the top. The builder could easily gut and remove stories from the lower floors and market 24 foot high apartments without touch a single piece of the exterior
Although I didn’t read the decision of the NY/Sup (NY’s lowest court of general jurisdiction); I’m a semi-retired NY trial lawyer (admitted 1975), now living in AZ. However, I would have expected the Plaintiffs/Petitioners to have obtained a partial restraining order in light of the continuance of the building’s construction. Regardless, if the setbacks provide sufficient light and views to the sky from the ground, I’m all in on the building, which is the reason why I READ YIMBY from 2500 miles away.
This developer worked within the laws made available to them at the time the plans/zoning were approved. You cannot go back and rescind legally obtained approvals because some people are upset and feel this was unfair.
They should keep building as planned and sue the city.
In a rational city, eminent domain proceedings would be employed to acquire the development rights from the holdout properties. These rights would then be sold to the developers removing any ambiguity as to the validity of the design. Okay, it was just a fantasy.
In a rational city, eminent domain proceedings would be employed to acquire the development rights from the holdout properties. These rights would then be sold to the developers removing any ambiguity as to the validity of the design. Okay, it was just a fantasy.
But who’s gonna want to live there??