Building at 19 Rector St.

Rising thirty-seven stories on Rector Street in Lower Manhattan, this brick-clad Art Deco tower was built in 1929-30 and designed by architect Lafayette A. Goldstone. Its base fills the lot, and a series of setbacks leads to a tall, slender tower turned at an angle to take in views of the harbor and the Hudson River. Glazed terra-cotta chevron panels mark the setbacks, and the Rector Street entrance and lobby carry bronze work, marble and zigzag ornament. The building matters for two reasons. It is the largest skyscraper erected west of Broadway, built as the nearby Curb Exchange drew office development into a former residential and immigrant neighborhood. It also shows how the 1916 zoning rules and fashionable Art Deco design shaped New York skyscrapers of the late 1920s. A ten-story addition of 1955 matches the original in materials and color. The upper floors, once offices, now hold apartments, and the building keeps a high degree of integrity.