Historic U.S. Tile Installations, "N" States

NY_BRONX--Park Plaza Apartments

Photo taken by "Jim.henderson" in March 2011¹

PARK PLAZA APARTMENTS--BRONX, NY

Title of Installation:

Park Plaza Apartments

Materials Used:

Polychromed terra cotta.

General Description:

"The Park Plaza Apartments were one of the first and most prominent art deco apartment buildings erected in the Bronx in New York City. The eight-story, polychromatic terra cotta embellished structure at 1005 Jerome Avenue and West 164th Street was designed by Horace Ginsberg and Marvin Fine and completed in 1931. It is an eight story building divided into five blocks or section, each six bays wide. There are about 200 apartments, ranging from one to five rooms."²

"Perhaps the most unusual architecture-related imagery can be found on the Park Plaza... . A terra-cotta panel depicts a kneeling figure symbolically offering a skyscraper before an architectural alter on which the Parthenon is placed! Additional polychrome plaques showing the city skyline and the rising sun also embellish this 1929-31 building."³

Technical Information (Size,mfg., etc.):

It is not known which company manufactured the terra cotta ornamentation.

Year Installed, if different:

1929-1931

Does Installation Still Exist?

Yes, and these apartments were listed as a New York City landmark in 1981 and in the National Register of Historic Places in June 1982 under reference number 82003346.

1005 Jerome Avenue

Bronx, NY

GPS Coordinates:

40°49′53″N 73°55′36″W

Additional Information, Websites, Citations:

¹http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Park_Plaza_Apts_1001_Jerome_Av_jeh.jpg

²http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Plaza_Apartments_(New_York)

³Susan Tunick, Terra-Cotta Skyline: New York's Architectural Ornament, Princeton Architectural Press, New York, NY, 1997, p. 98.

Photos below taken by Michael Padwee in 1997.

More photos can be found at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jag9889/3170561813/ and

http://www.flickr.com/photos/emilio_guerra/sets/72157622471926090/detail/?page=44 (in fact, Mr. Guerra has over a thousand photos of Bronx landmarks on his Flickr Photostream.