This giant, trapezoidal, through-block apartment tower radically departs from the city's regimented building alignment with its rectilinear midtown grid. Its long facades are at 45 percent angles with the sidestreets, and the tower is set back from 54th Street with landscaped plazas on either side. Interestingly, it is bigger at the top than at the bottom, an exceedingly rare high-rise phenomenon. Its bulges provide dramatic bay windows for the highest apartments and give the building a powerful profile.
Beekman's River Tower has a free health club, garage, valet service, concierge, doorman, bicycle room, storage space, and a wine cellar, and it permits pets. Apartments feature marble baths and Euro-style kitchens stocked with high-end appliances.
The banded window pattern works well, maximizing residents' views. Although a midblock building, much of the site fortunately faces the East River, providing waterfront vistas. When seen from the south on First Avenue, River Tower appears to be a colossal oceanliner anchored along the cliffs of the small isle of Manhattan. This is a very impressive building.
