The seventh-tallest building on our year-end construction countdown is 50 West 66th Street, a 775-foot-tall residential skyscraper on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Designed by Snøhetta with SLCE Architects as the executive architect and developed by Extell and Tennor Holding, the 69-story structure will yield 127 condominium units and claim the title as the tallest building in the neighborhood. Lendlease is the general contractor for the project, which is located on an interior lot between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West with frontage on both West 65th and West 66th Streets.
The reinforced concrete superstructure has more than doubled in height since our last update in August, when the tower stood roughly a dozen stories above the podium. Recent photos show the glass curtain wall and grid of bronze-hued mullions enclosing the skyscraper up to the height it had reached by late summer. Given its steady pace of progress, construction could reach the building’s sloped pinnacle before the end of winter.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
The below photos were taken at the end of November when crews were just beginning to install the glass curtain wall on the main tower.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Amenities at 50 West 66th Street will include an indoor swimming pool, a full-size basketball court, a squash court, and an indoor bowling alley. The 20th floor will house a residential lounge, a business center, a spa, and a landscaped terrace with fire pits.
The nearest subway from the property is the 1 train at the 66th Street-Lincoln Center station to the west at the intersection of Broadway and Columbus Avenue.
YIMBY anticipates 50 West 66th Street will complete construction near the end of 2024.
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Nyc is now a depressing story with respect to these oversized buildings that unfortunately do not fit in architecturally for the majority of New Yorkers . They simply meet the needs of greedy developers and their purchasers It is time for this to change or the city makes no sense at all.
I think the size fits the neighborhood quite nicely, actually.
You’re kidding, right? It’s about three times the size of any nearby building, with no character.
I know this is YIMBY, but I’ll bet you wouldn’t want this building to go up next to you.
I guess you can’t see the other huge buildings in the pictures
What a load of dung. What do you mean it doesn’t fit In architecturally for “ most” New Yorkers?
Rubbish
>”oversized” building
>new york city
are you stupid?
Definitely one of the most beautiful post-war additions to the UWS skyline. Love this and can’t wait to see it completed. Hopefully more like it will follow!
if you like such buildings just move to Boston, or pretty much anywhere in the US. NYC has never been affordable and needs more supply. Not all old buildings are worth preserving just because they’re old
Yes but most of these supertalls look like office buildings, they’re a blight on the city’s beauty. This one is kind of okay though.
Oversized?? This is a f*cking twig compared to other bigger towers like the Spiral or 50 Hudson yards that literally take up a whole city block!!
Distinctive..
..and Merry Christmas!
A Merry Christmas to us all
And views to die/live for!
I don’t mind the size of the building, it’s just super boring. I really hope there’s a sea change in the architecture world away from this stuff.
How about some Deco touch, to make it more cozy and New Yorky? Cant be that expensive with some curved lines, some shiny brass and color?
Size fine. Architecture. Snore
I have to agree with RP. For those of us who live on the UWS, it’s still a “village” with a neighborhood feeling. The Avenues are our Main Streets, and the cross streets are quiet. As this tower, (and I do believe Sonhetta has handsomely detailed the architecture), already looms too high from afar, and much too much from the area around Lincoln Center. The only way the neighborhood will retain its charm is to retain its charm. There is a there there, for now.
(curious there was NO mention of the Synagogue @ the base – the congregation that sold their building to make this tower happen).
Charm and economic viability are often at odds with one another. One must be a realist about the change that defines cities. Cities are living, breathing entities. They do not stand still to meet one person’s or group’s ideas as to what is appropriate or, in this case, charming. This is a very handsome building and the developer and architect showed much more concern for the neighborhood than many of the others who put up architecturally banal boxes. Why don’t you accept that you live in a very desirable area and that change is inevitable and this project is a good thing as compared to the alternative?
SteveO. Your arguments of viability are silly: Back country Greenwich is viable because of the large properties, estate planning, etc. If multi-family housing was built, it would not be the place it is. The same with Scarsdale. That’s not to say that dense development near the train isn’t correct: with all of the other places in the city that are viable for development, turning the Upper West Side into Hudson Yards ruins what the Upper West Side is. You go to Venice to experience Venice. If Venice was paved over with mirrored buildings, it would not be viable. The brownstone blocks with sunlight on the Upper West Side is what makes it viable and unique. The line of 60th street did not need to be crossed with 10 floors of empty space to sell higher priced apartments.
You should lighten up. Those examples you gave are preposterous. This high rise is already surrounded by other high rises. You presenting a complete false equivalence.
Not true, and telling me to lighten up is incredibly dismissive of the real issue. This building is FAR taller looming over the neighborhood. It just wasn’t necessary. You either believe in a neighborhood integrity or you don’t. Personally not opposed to development, but I agree with Landmarks West that there should be a limit to the height – and the creep significantly changes more than just that block. There are many locations in other parts of the city for more taller development. This is one place where context means something, and context is important.
SNOHETTA, has elegantly designed this high tower, as it sets back from dwarfing the regal CPW Skyline . The detailing in the curtainwall , with the bronze tone mullions, adds a nice accent. The chamfered angles, that allow for nice size balconies. As far as the scale is concerned, if I may suggest; it would be more graceful if the top 21st floors begin to set back until the pent houses level. This would reduce the looming effect of its scale and allow it to blur its perimeter with the sky. Being constructed on sacred grounds of a former synagogue, may add significance, if some of its architectural details, or an outline of its facade , were integrated.
The tower’s glass curtain wall is well designed, and that’s a good thing since there’s so much of it.
Will look even better once we see the details on the corner balconies too
I think we all wax poetic at times, but I have to agree that this is a welcome addition for Manhattan. This may not be 15 CPW or any number of classical buildings, but it has a unique style to it and it is certainly not just a glass box. RP is hardly the first person to think NYC was lost; many thought the city was done for when the farms and houses were converted into townhomes, and again when the townhomes were converted into 8-12 story apartment blocks, and again when modern architecture was cropping up throughout the city and… But it is okay for people to feel this way too!
I used to live in a tenement walk-up in Hell’s Kitchen, at the time I thought I was living the dream, now I would never want to live that life. Our desires change, and our willingness to accept change is based on how comfortable we are with what we have now. I hope RP is living a nice comfortable life on the UWS, but many, many people plan to join him in the coming years so buildings will be renovated, demolished and new projects will sprout up. Progress…
Absolutely hideous, totally out-of-scale, barely legally-built that ruins the block and those around it. The UWS definitely has a certain character, and this is certainly not it.
Knowing our corrupt government, they probably got their taxes abated, so the City gets Nothing.
Another scheme for developers to build housing for wealthy, money-laundering foreigners, who won’t even live there.
Many more of these monstrosities will turn the entire City into Hudson Yards. If you like Hudson Yards, I have nothing for you but pity.
Misplaced concern and anger. No one is turning the UWS into Hudson Yard. You sound ridiculous.
Don’t be so oversensitive and dramatic, Mark.
For years i have watched UWSers whine about this building that really isn’t even THAT big….it’s beyond laughable. And another laugh i will have yet again right now. Merry Xmas to all 🙂
The glass curtain wall was installed with its beautiful textures, without any questions on it. What’s next? Thanks to Michael Young.
Love this building.
Do I see hints of Lincoln Center architecture? Overall a nice design.
The see-thru rendering shows a warm, bronze glow to the bldg. It now looks like the desolate gray glass. Bait & switch
It looks like one of those mirrored glass office buildings in Hudson Yards.
There were people who thought the Dakota, on West 72nd was ruining the neighborhood, when it was being built in the 1880’s.
This glass rectangle ain’t The Dakota
Yes, you are correct,The Dakota is a masterpiece, 50 West 66th not so much, but both buildings are ‘big and different’ and that frightens many people..but somehow the neighborhood survived and prospered post Dakota, as it hopefully will with 50 West 66th..
There was nothing but squatters’ shacks there when the Dakota was built in 1884, that’s why they called it The Dakota. The Dakotas were the Far West. They didn’t become States until after the Dakota was built. As for the “greedy developers,” add the greedy politicians, whop need tax revenue to squander. Retail space is in the toidy and office buildings are empty, so where is the tax money coming from? The rent-stabilized preservationists will pay? Ya think?
How this building displays its lighting, especially at the top section, would ultimately determine whether it will be a positive contribution to the Upper West Side skyline. It will be a success if the onlookers feel it is something to marvel at.