241 Central Park West
241 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024
BBL 1011980029 · BIN 1031310
- Year built
- 1930
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 139
- Floors
- 19
- Landmark
- Designated
- Pets
- Per current lease terms
241 Central Park West occupies a particular and somewhat unusual position on the avenue: it is one of only a handful of CPW pre-war buildings that has never converted to cooperative or condominium ownership. Acquired by the Rudin family in 1945 and held continuously since, the building has remained a rental property for 80 years — across multiple waves of CPW conversions that swept the avenue between the 1950s and 1990s — making it a singular institutional artifact of the New York rental market.
Built by Earle & Calhoun in 1930–1931 and designed by Schwartz & Gross (the same firm responsible for 55 CPW, 101 CPW, and the Brentmore), 241 CPW is an Art Deco composition in beige brick with substantial cast-stone ornamentation at the lower and upper floors. The ornamentation has been variously described as cornstalks, calla lilies, and tulips — a botanical Art Deco vocabulary that distinguishes the building from the more geometric Art Deco ornament at peer CPW Schwartz & Gross buildings. The facade spans the entire blockfront between West 84th and West 85th, producing a substantial street-level presence unusual among CPW pre-wars (most of which occupy single side-street frontages).
For prospective renters who want pre-war CPW architecture without the financial barriers and board scrutiny of a co-op purchase — or for buyers researching the broader CPW market who encounter 241 CPW listings on rental platforms — the building represents a meaningful pre-war Park-facing rental option in a corridor that is otherwise dominated by ownership product.
The persistent rental status is itself part of the building's economic identity. The Rudin family — among Manhattan's largest and longest-tenured rental landlords — has maintained CPW Park-facing rental inventory at 241 CPW as an institutional holding rather than a development opportunity, an unusual decision in the post-conversion CPW landscape.
Architecture and unit composition
The building's 139 apartments originally ranged from three to six rooms, distributed across 18 residential floors plus a penthouse. Some apartments feature sunken living rooms, railed galleries, and wood-burning fireplaces — design signatures noted in 1931 newspaper marketing of the building. Color-tiled bathrooms were another period feature highlighted at the original lease-up.
Apartments have been renovated to varying degrees across the building's 95-year history; many units have been substantially modernized while others retain more original detail. Park-facing apartments on the eastern flank offer direct Central Park views.
Building operations
241 CPW operates as a full-service rental building under Rudin Management. The building maintains the pre-war service signature appropriate to its tier — full-time doorman, attended lobby, on-site superintendent — but as a rental property, operational details (lease terms, fees, policies) are subject to landlord control rather than co-op or condo board governance.
The building is not in a cooperative or condominium structure. There is no proprietary lease, no flip tax, no NYC stockholders' abatement, no board approval process. Resident-tenants hold leases rather than shares or units. This produces a fundamentally different daily-life signature than peer CPW co-ops and condos — tenants can be issued non-renewal notices subject to NYC rent regulations, and capital decisions are made entirely by the landlord rather than by a resident-elected board.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- Per unit / month range
- —
Source: NYC LL84 benchmarking and PLUTO · The Roebling Research Library. City record last verified September 2026.
See full Local Law 97 analysis — emissions history, scenarios, methodology →Facade safety — Local Law 11
The latest available filing classified the facade as SWARMP — Safe With A Repair and Maintenance Program: the engineer identified conditions requiring monitoring or repair before the next inspection cycle. The scope, timeline, and how the building funds the work are building-specific — we review the filings and board materials for you.
How to read this, and where it comes from
QEWI = Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector — the licensed engineer the city requires to sign the report (the independent expert, not the managing agent).
Penalties shown are amounts DOB assessed against filings on record across 2005–10 to 2020–25. The FISP dataset does not record whether they were paid, contested or remain open, so treat the figure as history rather than a current balance and confirm the building’s standing with the managing agent.
Source: NYC DOB facade filings (FISP) · The Roebling Research Library. City record last verified September 2026.
What to know if you're researching 241 Central Park West as a renter
The building offers genuine pre-war Park-facing rental inventory. This is increasingly rare on CPW; most peer pre-war buildings converted to co-op or condo decades ago. Renters seeking authentic pre-war architecture, doorman service, and Park views without a purchase are not well-served on CPW — 241 is one of the meaningful options.
Lease terms are landlord-controlled. Rudin Management determines lease length, renewal terms, rent escalations (subject to applicable rent regulations on regulated units), and pet/sublet policies. These are not governed by a resident board.
Some units may be rent-regulated; many are market-rate. The mix has shifted over decades. Prospective renters should ask explicitly about regulation status during application.
Daily-life convenience is mid-CPW. Between 84th and 85th, the building sits in the residential core of the Upper West Side, with proximity to the American Museum of Natural History, Central Park's reservoir, and Columbus Avenue retail.
What to know if you're a buyer researching CPW broadly
241 CPW is not currently a purchasable building — but understanding its rental status helps clarify the CPW market structure. CPW Park-facing apartments are overwhelmingly co-op or condo product; renters with the income to support CPW rent often have the resources to buy at peer addresses, and the relative scarcity of CPW pre-war rentals is part of why 241 CPW's listings are visible across rental platforms.
The Rudin family is a notable Manhattan landlord. Their decision to hold 241 CPW as a rental for 80 years reflects an institutional strategy distinct from the more common pattern of pre-war-to-co-op conversion. Buyers researching CPW should be aware that this building is structurally outside the purchasable market.
Comparable rental buildings on CPW
For renters considering CPW alternatives:
- 275 Central Park West — Emery Roth 1931 rental, Neo-Renaissance, 114 units
- 295 Central Park West — Emery Roth 1941 Art Moderne rental — Roth's final CPW work
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across Central Park West — read The Roebling Team Guide to Central Park West.
The full playbook — what goes in the package, how boards read your financials, the interview, and the timeline — plus sample cover, reference, and personal letters you can adapt.
How to read the facts on this page. Items attributed to an offering plan describe the building as it was offered at that filing — unit mix, square footage, the amenity program as planned. They are not a statement about how the building operates today. Tax and compliance figures are sourced separately to current City records and carry their own dates. House rules, staffing and fee policy can change by board resolution without any public filing: treat every policy line here as a starting point for diligence and confirm it with the managing agent. Where this page compares one building or neighborhood to another, that is our analysis of the recorded record — it names the measure, the period and the sample it rests on, and it is an observation about medians rather than a prediction about any particular apartment.
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