Belaire Apartments

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Belaire Apartments
The Belaire condominium after being hit by a fixed-wing airplane, October 11, 2006.
Information
Location 524 East 72nd Street, Manhattan
Status Complete
Constructed 1988
Height
Roof 512 feet (156 meters)
Technical details
Floor count 42[1]
Companies
Architect Frank Williams and Associates
Developer Zeckendorf Company
Owner Hospital for Special Surgery
Location of the Belaire Apartments
Location of the Belaire Apartments

Belaire Apartments (also known as the Belaire Condominiums and The Belaire) is a mixed-use high-rise condominium apartment building in Manhattan, New York City. The 42-story[1] building is located at 524 E. 72nd Street between York Avenue and the FDR Drive. It has 183 condominium apartments, a health club, parking garage and swimming pool [2]. The first twenty-one floors are used by the Hospital for Special Surgery. The building has prominent views overlooking the East River. It is 512 feet tall (156 m).

The building was completed in 1988, and was constructed by the Zeckendorf Company, on the site previously occupied by a parking garage owned by the Hospital for Special Surgery. It was designed by Frank Williams and Associates, and features a red brick facade. The building has a reinforced concrete structure, making it one of the tallest concrete buildings at the time of its construction.

As of 2007, the Hospital for Special Surgery continues to own the land, and in exchange for selling the development rights to Zeckendorf, it received use of the lower 12 floors for offices. Originally, nurses and technicians were housed there, as these individuals had a difficult time finding affordable housing in New York. Floors 13-22 are still used for housing hospital staff and guests.[3] The Belaire also houses office and laboratory space, sports injury rehabilitation areas, and guest facilities for family members of patients at the Hospital to which it is connected via a causeway on the third floor.

After construction Belaire enjoyed property taxes reduction for 10 years as result of Section 421a tax-abatement certificates, a New York City affordable housing program[4]. This become possible as another company has rehabilitated 30 apartments at Spring Creek Gardens complex in East New York and sold resulting tax benefits to the Zeckendorf Company.[5][6]

As of October 2006, residents included novelist Carol Higgins Clark (38th floor); developer Arthur W. Zeckendorf (42nd floor); former Bloomingdale's CEO and Chairman Marvin S. Traub; once-jailed junk-bond king Ivan Boesky; Cigar Aficionado and Wine Spectator magazines publisher Marvin R. Shanken and Washington Nationals manager Manny Acta.[7]

Contents

[edit] Plane crash

Main article: 2006 New York City plane crash

On October 11, 2006, a four-seat, Cirrus Design SR-20 single-engine, fixed-wing aircraft owned by New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle[8] crashed into the apartment building, killing both occupants, Lidle and his flight instructor Tyler Stanger, and severely injuring one resident in the post impact fire. Initial fears that it was terrorism-related were unfounded—the FBI immediately stated the plane crash was not an act of terrorism.

[edit] Education

The complex is zoned to schools in the New York City Department of Education school district.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b The New York Times (Oct. 12, 2006): "Manhattan Plane Crash Kills Yankee Pitcher", by James Barron. The newspaper notes that despite numbering that designates Apartment 40ABG as where an airplane crashed on Oct. 11, 2006, that apartment is 30 flights of stairs from the sidewalk level.
  2. ^ Belaire Apartments. CondoCompany.com.
  3. ^ Lombino, David. "Architect of Unlucky Building Says He Was Confident It Would Stand", New York Sun, 2006-11-12. 
  4. ^ 421-a Affordable Housing Program. New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development website.
  5. ^ Depalma, Anthony. "Construction Of Apartments In Manhattan Falls Sharply", New York Times, 1988-04-03. Retrieved on 2006-10-14. 
  6. ^ Peterson, Iver. "Linking 421a to Low-Income Housing", New York Times, 1989-12-17. Retrieved on 2006-10-14. 
  7. ^ Mark Bulliet; Brian Lewis, Leela de Kretser. "Hi-rise houses movers, sharers", New York Post, 2006-10-12. Retrieved on 2006-10-14. 
  8. ^ CNN.com (Oct. 12, 2006, posted 1:20 a.m. EDT): "Yankees pitcher killed in crash of small plane in Manhattan"

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 40°45′57″N, 73°57′08″W

Languages