Public Baths

Manhattan

This neo-Classical Roman style bathhouse is a distant descendant of the famous Roman baths ; consequently, Brunner and Aiken considered the Roman style appropriate for this 20th-century version.

The one-story red brick building with its limestone base and ornamental details is roughly cross-shaped in plan. The entrance block faces Asser Levy Place. Its front facade is strikingly accented by four pairs of free-standing columns which flank two entrances-one for each sex. The two entrance doors are crowded by triangular pediments with shield motifs and carried on scrolled brackets. Each door is set into a large arched opening enframed in stone with a scrolled keystone. Multi-paned windows with diagonal muntins fill the arch above and flanking each door. The center of the facade, between paired columns, is accented by a fountain set in a niche. Above the fountain are three horizontal bands of stonework simulating falling water surmounted by an arch containing an elaborate scallop shell.

The facade is surmounted by a full entablature with modillioned cornice, decorated frieze, and shallow architrave. It comes forward above the paired columns and is crowned by urns, one above each column. The frieze contains the inscription "Free Public Baths, City of New York" above the arches. This section of the building is surmounted by a roof balustrade with paneled blocks above the columns. A large swag-decorated shield, containing the emblem of the City of New York, rises above the balustrade over the fountain at the center of the facade.

The side facades of the entrance block contain round-arched window openings with paneled brickwork beneath them. The side wings of the building, which contain showers and dressing rooms. have similar round-arched windows. They are also surmounted by simple dentiled roof cornices.
- From the 1974 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report