A Soft Touch and Some Shade
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

Most pre-war apartment buildings did not have air-conditioning when they were erected, so window awnings were often employed to cast shade on apartment windows and reduce heat. The cloth awnings added soft touches to the hard masonry façades.
Early photographs indicate that in many luxury buildings, the awnings were widely employed, adding a deeper dimensionality to their façades and, in many cases, more color.
In Andrew Alpern’s excellent “New York’s Fabulous Luxury Apartments: With Original Floor Plans from the Dakota, River House, Olympic Tower and Other Great Buildings” (Dover Publications, 1987), there are old photographs showing many awnings at such prestigious buildings as the Dorilton at 171 W. 71st St., the Ansonia at 2108 Broadway, the Langham at 135 Central Park West, the Hendrik Hudson at 380 Riverside Drive, and the Apthorp at 2207 Broadway.
Nowadays, of course, window awnings above the retail level — where they are used to reduce glare for passing window shoppers and protect them from the elements — are quite rare. Window air-conditioning units, both protruding and discrete, and central air-conditioning are better at cooling and require less maintenance.
There are a few exceptions, however. The penthouse facing Central Park at 960 Fifth Ave., one of the city’s most luxurious apartment buildings, has green awnings over its many windows. On the terraces of the penthouse at 47 E. 87th St., larger awnings are used to shade guests when entertaining. An elegant example of awnings can be found at 29 E. 69th St., where they decorate four floors of the five-story mansion.
Storefront awnings provide retailers with extra signage space, and in recent years some apartment buildings have begun to impose uniform design standards for their storefront awnings, rendering them more attractive than the buildings that allow visual mayhem to assault passersby. Some commercial buildings such as Cartier Inc. and Versace, at 651 and 647 Fifth Ave., respectively, have awnings over all their windows.
At 35 E. 72nd St., a handsome former townhouse now occupied by Chase Bank, has bright blue awnings over all of its windows, each with the bank’s name on the front edge. Chase has one of the more conservative and attractive street presences in the city, in dramatic contrast to some newer banks that are quite garish. Still, I would have found it preferable if the bank’s name were used only on the first-floor awnings at this location.
Mr. Horsley is the editor of CityRealty.com.