140 Riverside Drive (The Normandy)

The Normandy is Emery Roth's last major apartment commission and one of the most architecturally celebrated buildings in New York. The 1939 design — melding Italian Renaissance Revival with streamlined Art Moderne — produced a structure inspired in name and silhouette by the French ocean liner Normandie. The LPC designation report called The Normandy "one of the great monuments of Riverside Drive" and said it "symbolized the grand era of 20th century urbanism."

The building carries the Emery Roth architectural pedigree at peak — a fusion of historicist Renaissance with streamlined Moderne so deliberate that Paul Goldberger (NYT, February 17, 1978) called the design "schizophrenic." That design has since been protected by law: the NYC individual landmark designation on November 12, 1985 came down the same day as the public hearing, halting a board-majority vote to replace the original casement windows. And the building's cultural standing is anchored by its Herman Wouk cultural anchor, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Caine Mutiny, who moved in on December 1, 1939. ## Architecture and building operations

The September 10, 1938 New York Sun quoted Roth on the design intent: "It will be definitely 1939. That doesn't mean 'modernistic'. If today I designed a building of old Italian architecture it would emerge nevertheless as a modern structure, always to be recognized as of 1939."

The 20-story full-blockfront building distributes 250 apartments on an H-shaped plan with two separate wings, two distinct entrances, and two elevator banks. The composition combines:

• Rounded corners
• A dramatic concave entrance glittering with mosaic tiles
• Simple flat surfaces in place of terra cotta
• Twin towers
• Rusticated limestone base with horizontal joints
• Pyramidal red mission tile roofs topped with copper lanterns
• Name and silhouette inspired by the French ocean liner Normandie

The H-plan produces two interior gardens totaling 9,000 square feet. The sunken lobby features green marble wainscoting and concealed cove lighting. Many apartments carry circular foyers 14-16 feet wide, glass brick elements, herringbone oak floors, beamed ceilings (9 feet typical; 11-12 feet at the penthouses), and the building's signature curved corner windows. Duplex penthouses at the tower bases feature glass brick circular staircases and fireplaces.

The landmark window battle. In 1985, board member Mathilda Miller Cuneo (a resident attorney) rallied sixteen residents to oppose a board majority vote to replace the original casement windows with modern double-paned units. She wrote to the Landmarks Preservation Commission warning of "an urgent and threatening situation," telling The New York Times that the proposed replacement "would have absolutely ruined the integrity of the design of the building, which is the finest example of Art Moderne in the City of New York." The LPC held a hearing November 12, 1985, and designated The Normandy a landmark that same day — halting the window replacement and preserving the Roth fenestration.

Operations: white-glove full-service cooperative. 24-hour doormen at both tower entrances; live-in resident manager; porters; handymen. Two fitness centers; landscaped roof deck with 360-degree city and river views; children's playroom; community room; lending library; central laundry; bike storage; individual storage (waitlist).

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The neighborhood

For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across Riverside Drive — read The Roebling Team Guide to Riverside Drive.