“A conspicuous ornament to the upper part of the city”

Above is a building I pass regularly during my stay in New York. It is on Central Park West, and 106th Street. It has an interesting history.

Here's a website which explains its social and architectural history:

Cancer, in the first decades after the Civil War, had been associated by most with poverty and filth. As education and understanding of the disease improved, wealthy New Yorkers donated money for the establishment of the New York Cancer Hospital – chief among these being John Jacob Astor. By the time the cornerstone was laid on May 17, 1884 $360,000 had been raised -- $200,000 of that being donated by Astor...

[N]ews of Grant’s [cancer] affliction spread across the country and the disease was given new-found national attention, prompting further donations to the hospital which depended solely on private funding...

The site chosen was on Central Park West (then still called 8th Avenue) and 106th Street. Along with the commission, architect Charles Coolidge Haight was given guidelines from physicians on the most up-to-the-minute theories on hospital design.

The website continues to describe the specifications then required of a cancer hospital.

Below is descriptions of the building's architecture (from website linked above):

The building which The Times called “a conspicuous ornament to the upper part of the city” was built of pressed Philadelphia brick with stone trim. An arched loggia connected two of the towers on the first floor, topped by a deep, balustraded balcony on the second; these were included by Haight to give patients access to air and sunlight.

More information on the architect, Charles C. Haight can be found here and here. And this site has architectural drawings

The hospital changed locations in 1955. The building on 106th Street was converted into the Towers Nursing home. This was shut down in 1977, with the intentions to demolish the building. This was prevented when the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission gave it a landmark status.

Renovations on the the building started in 2001, and were completed in 2004. Now, the building houses luxury apartments.