It is hard to miss the Apthorp at 79th and Broadway..

Its grandiose entrance on Broadway reminds me of the style of the famed Dakota apartments

Ceremonial Plaque tells some of story...

I would have loved to get into the courtyard with my camera, but of course, nothing doing

This from Wikipedia

The Apthorp

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For other uses, see Apthorp (disambiguation).

Significant dates
The Apthorp
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
NYC Landmark

(1909)

Location:	2201-2219 Broadway Manhattan, New York City
Coordinates: 40°47′2″N 73°58′53″W
Built:	1906-08
Architect:	Clinton & Russell
Architectural style:	Italian Renaissance^[2]
Governing body:	private
NRHP Reference#:	78001868^[1]
Added to NRHP:	January 30, 1978
Designated NYCL:	September 9, 1969

The Apthorp is a historic condominium apartment building in Manhattan, New York City. The Italian Renaissance Revival^[2] building designed by architects Clinton & Russell for William Waldorf Astor, was built between 1906 and 1908; it occupies the full block between Broadway and West End Avenue and between West 78th and West 79th streets. The building, which has been called "Monumental and magnificant",^[3] is built around a large interior courtyard. It was designated a New York City landmark in 1969, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.^[1]

Gilded head

The building was named for Charles Ward Apthorp, who owned Apthorp Farm, which encompassed about 300 acres (1.2 km²) in this part of Manhattan in the late 18th century.^[4]
A three-story rusticated base and the rustication of the broader corner bays as well as string moldings serve together to articulate the otherwise block-like mass. Arch-headed windows contrast with rectangular ones to emphasize lightly certain positions, notably the enriched uppermost floor under the projecting cornice. Over-lifesize limestone sculptures representing the Four Seasons stand above the central barrel-vaulted entrance, where the elaborate wrought-iron gates in the manner of Samuel Yellin feature a pair of gazelle heads.^[5]
According to architecture critic Paul Goldberger, writing about the Apthorp and the nearby Belnord and Astor Court,

All of the buildings share the liability of courtyard apartment houses, which is poor light in all too many of the units, but they also share the ability of all good courtyard buildings to create far more than conventional buildings could a sense of a private, secure world.^[6]

The building, which is divided into four sections designated A–D and arranged around the central cobblestoned driveway and courtyard,^[7] originally had 10 apartments per floor. During the 1930s and 1940s, these were divided into smaller units.^[8]
The building was sold in 2006 for $426 million, and a deal was made with an outside partner which provided $95 million for renovations. At the time of the sale, 100 of the 163 rental units were rent stabilized, and rumors held that the building would "go condo.^[7] In 2008 the change occurred, and The Apthorp became a condominium.^[9] The asking prices, nearly $3,000 a square foot, or an average of $6.5 million per apartment, make it "one of the most expensive condominium conversion projects" ever, according to the New York Times.^[10]
Residents have included Nora Ephron,^[11] Al Pacino,^[9] Conan O'Brien,^[9] Cyndi Lauper,^[9] Rosie O'Donnell,^[9] and Steve Kroft.^[9]

References

Notes

^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13.
^ ^a ^b New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission; Postal, Matthew A. (ed. and text); Dolkart, Andrew S. (text). (2009) Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.) New York:John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1, p.142
^ White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot & Leadon, Fran (2010). AIA Guide to New York City (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195383867., p. 380-81
^ Brockmann, Jorg et al. (2002). One Thousand New York Buildings, p. 350. at Google Books
^ Betty E. Ezequelle and Joan R. Olshansky (July 1997). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Apthorp Apartments". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2011-03-25. See also: "Accompanying seven photos".
^ Goldberger, Paul The City Observed, New York, a Guide to the Architecture of Manhattan. New York: Vintage Brooks, 1979
^ ^a ^b Horsley, Carter B. "The Apthorp" on The City Review website
^ Alpern, Andrew (1975). New York's Fabulous Luxury Apartments with Original Floor Plans from the Dakota, River House, Olympic Tower and Other Great Buildings. New York: Dover Publications.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Idov, Michael. "Apoplectic at the Apthorp", New York, September 30, 2007
^ Barbanel, Josh (2008-06-22). "Condos at Pedigree Prices". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
^ "Nora Ephron's Love Affair with the Apthorp" on Curbed NY (June 31, 2006)

And finally an article of recent real estate news

This just in from a website called The Real Deal

Maurice Mann loses battle for piece of the Apthorp

August 09, 2013 02:15PM
By David Jones

From left: Maurice Mann and the Apthorp at 309 West End Avenue

From left: Maurice Mann and the Apthorp at 390 West End Avenue

Maurice Mann, one of the original developers of the Apthorp on the Upper West Side, has lost a bid to buy an apartment at the landmark condominium conversion, despite claims that his partners set aside the $4.6 million unit for him.
Mann sued his former co-developers — billionaire Lev Leviev’s Africa Israel USA and Broadwall Management, a unit of the Feil Organization — in 2011, alleging they breached a deal to sell him a unit that he had occupied since November 2008. A series of promises for other units also fell through, effectively blocking Mann from buying in the building, he claimed.
However, New York State Supreme Court Justice Anil Singh ruled Monday that Mann did not provide enough evidence to prove that his partners knowingly made false statements to thwart the transactions.
“The alleged pattern of delay that [Mann] outlines in his papers does not amount to a misrepresentation or material omission of fact which was false and known to be false by defendant,” Justice Singh wrote in an 11-page decision.
Man said he intends to appeal the ruling. Officials from the Apthorp were immediately available for comment.
Attorney Charles Michael, representing the defendants, said his clients were pleased with the decision. “The judge made the right decision based on the law and the facts,” he told The Real Deal.
Mann and Leviev bought the 163-unit landmark rental building at 390 West End Avenue in 2007 for $623 million, then a record price for a single residential building in New York City.
But the 2008 market crash and serious questions about construction practices and pricing led to a major fallout between the two parties. Leviev’s group later ousted Mann as lead developer after a foreclosure threat from lenders.
Still, Mann and his partners reached an agreement in 2009 for him to purchase Unit 2C. Later, however, they told Mann they would need that unit for general inventory, and instead offered him Unit 6A. Subsequently, the developers said they would need that unit for a model apartment and promised him Unit 10A, pending the New York Attorney General’s approval of the condo offering plan.
The 4,300-square-foot, four-bedroom Unit 2C hit the market in 2010 for $12 million, listed with Dolly Lenz, formerly of Douglas Elliman, then was relisted with the Corcoran Group for $9.95 million in December, according to StreetEasy. The apartment went into contract in April.
Africa Israel did not fare much better with the Apthorp than Mann. The developer was forced out after Anglo Irish Bank, the collapsed lender, sold the senior mortgage loan to Dallas-based Lone Star Funds.
Last fall, Mann told The Real Deal that he was living at the Laureate at 2150 Broadway.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman ordered the senior directors of the board, including Broadwell’s Andrew Ratner, to resign in 2012 after The Real Deal uncovered that their claim that the mortgage sale would have no impact on the building was false.
The developers sued Anglo Irish Bank, alleging that the mortgage sale would jeopardize the viability of the conversion, a direct contradiction of sworn statements made to the AG. Officials from mezzanine lender Area Property Partners took over the board.