By GARY FONVILLE
Washington Heights is ideally situated in New York City.†Depending on driving conditions, a motorist can whisk westward to New Jersey across the George Washington Bridge in minutes. The George Washington Bridge Bus Station is located near the A train where thousands of commuters can go to the many suburban communities in New Jersey. In addition, 11 MTA bus lines from all directions traverse the area.
That being said, the area on Fort Washington Avenue and Cabrini Boulevard are outside of Washington Heights’ busy transit hub and commercial areas. These streets can only be directly reached by the MTA’s M4 bus or A train. Cabrini and Fort Washington offer one of the highest concentrations of Art Deco apartment buildings anywhere in NYC except the Grand Concourse in The Bronx. And unlike the ones in The Bronx, these 1930’s edifices have been maintained as well as Rockefeller Center and the Chrysler Building.
FNY’s busy camera took note of the many distinctly decorative Art Deco entrances on these streets.
LEFT: Architects of this Fort George Avenue building thought enough to design Art Deco influenced fire escapes. Though fire escapes are not considered entrances, at least two tenants have installed window gates to make sure that their windows will not be used as entrances!
RIGHT: 570 Fort Washington Avenue.
LEFT: 730 Fort Washington Avenue. RIGHT: 700 Fort Washington Avenue.
LEFT: 680 Fort Washington Avenue. RIGHT: Even the gates to an alley are Art Deco inspired on 190th Street between Overlook Terrace and Fort Washington Avenue.
LEFT: Cabrini Boulevard even gets into the act here at 386. RIGHT: 265 Cabrini Boulevard.
LEFT: 205 Cabrini Boulevard. RIGHT: This well maintained entrance rivals anything that could be found downtown at 200 Cabrini Boulevard.
LEFT: 350 Cabrini Boulevard offers lamps that would not be out of place in the Chrysler Building’s lobby. RIGHT: 120 Fort Washington is the only one photographed by FNY south of 181st Street.
LEFT: 620 Fort Washington Avenue has aged very well. RIGHT: 802 W. 190th Street looks as if it came out of an old Clark Gable movie.
All photos and text by Gary Fonville