555 Edgecombe Avenue (Roger Morris Apartments / Paul Robeson Residence)
555 Edgecombe Avenue, New York, NY 10032
BBL 1021090034 · BIN 1062545
- Year built
- 1914
- Type
- Rental
- Units
- 127
- Floors
- 13
- Landmark status
- Individual landmark; not in a historic district
- NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission records, updated February 2026
555 Edgecombe Avenue is a designated National Historic Landmark — recognized by the National Park Service as the Paul Robeson Residence. Per LPC: "one of the city's most important sites of 20th-century African-American history."
Status flag: Currently operates as rental, not a cooperative or condominium. Included here as essential cultural and architectural Harlem corridor context.
What anchors the building is its National Historic Landmark + NYC Landmark dual designation, but the designation only exists because of who lived here. The trophy cultural resident roster — Paul Robeson (1939-41), Count Basie (for whom Edgecombe was co-named "Count Basie Place"), Joe Louis, Lena Horne, Andy Kirk, Canada Lee, Kenneth Clark, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, Thurgood Marshall (briefly), Jackie Robinson, and Anne Wiggins Brown — made it, per Ephemeral New York, "the most elite apartment building in Harlem." That concentration was inseparable from the Coogan's Bluff Sugar Hill location, sited at the top of the bluff overlooking the Polo Grounds.
The building rented to white tenants only when it opened in 1916, transitioning to all-Black by 1939-40 — the LPC report calls it "one of the city's most important sites of 20th-century African-American history."
Architecture and building operations
Sited at Edgecombe and 160th Street, the top of Coogan's Bluff. The building rented to white tenants only when it opened in 1916, transitioning to all-Black by 1939-40 — the LPC report calls it "one of the city's most important sites of 20th-century African-American history." Schwartz & Gross delivered the firm's signature courtyard layout with stone water table, brick body, limestone trim, and a marble-and-tile lobby.
Operations: Rental. 555 Roger Morris LLC ownership (2022 acquisition for $26.75M from previous owner). Per public openigloo data, the building carries 105+ open HPD violations as of 2025-26 — a material flag for any prospective tenant.
Policy framework
- Type: Rental
- NYC Landmark + National Historic Landmark
- Triple jurisdiction (LPC, NPS notification, St. Nicholas HD)
Building staffing and amenities
- Elevator
- YesSource: NYC Department of City Planning records (PLUTO)
- Amenities noted
- GardenSource: The Roebling Team's building profile
Staffing and amenities as our building profile and recent listing records describe them. A feature not listed is not confirmed absent. Outdoor space, parking and some facilities can belong to particular apartments or to a separate owner; confirm access for the specific apartment.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $73,305/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $48
- Modeled exposure split equally across 127 units (the residential count on the city's lot record). Not an assessed amount; in a rental building the penalty is the owner's obligation, so this is a measure of scale only.
Source: NYC LL84 benchmarking and PLUTO · The Roebling Research Library. City data last refreshed 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 inspector (QEWI) identified conditions requiring monitoring or repair, with repairs due by the deadline stated in the filing. 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 — a licensed professional engineer or registered architect who meets DOB’s FISP qualifications and signs 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 data last refreshed September 2026.
Recent sales
Whole-building sale $26,750,000 (April 20, 2022). No individual cooperative sales — rental only.
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Notable residents (historic)
Trophy roster:
- Paul Robeson (1939-41) — anchor for the NHL designation
- Count Basie — Edgecombe co-named "Count Basie Place"
- Joe Louis
- Lena Horne
- Andy Kirk
- Canada Lee
- Kenneth Clark
- Zora Neale Hurston
- Langston Hughes
- Duke Ellington
- Thurgood Marshall (briefly)
- Jackie Robinson
- Anne Wiggins Brown
Ephemeral New York calls it "the most elite apartment building in Harlem."
Comparable buildings
- 409 Edgecombe Avenue — Schwartz & Gross 1916; immediate Sugar Hill peer
- Graham Court — Clinton & Russell 1901; nearby Harlem landmark peer
- The Lenox (380 Lenox Avenue) — GF55 2006; nearby Harlem peer
- 5th on the Park (1485 Fifth) — FXFowle 2007; nearby Harlem peer
- Hudson View Gardens (116 Pinehurst) — Pelham Sr. 1925; nearby Hudson Heights peer
Sources: The Roebling Research Library (offering plans, house rules, financial statements, board minutes, internal transaction records); NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers; publicly recorded NYC building data.
More Harlem buildings
- 409 Edgecombe Avenue (Colonial Parkway Apartments) — 1916 co-op by Schwartz & Gross
- Park Manhattan, 411–421 Manhattan Avenue — 1910 condominium
- 416 East 117th Street — 2007 condominium
- RiverBridge Court, 603 West 148th Street — 2005 condominium
- The Barnard, 721 St. Nicholas Avenue
- 725 Riverside Drive (The Imperator) — 1914 condominium
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, transit, and pricing across Harlem — read The Roebling Team Guide to Harlem.
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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646.939.7375 · c.cohen@compass.com