55 Central Park West ("The Shandor" in the Movie Ghostbusters)

The eighteen-story apartment building at 55 Central Park West was built from 1929 to 1930 in the Art Deco style of architecture. Since the 1984 release of the movie Ghostbusters, the stately high-rise building is sometimes called "The Shandor" by residents and visitors, the building's fictional name from the hit 1984 movie, Fifty-five Central Park West was designed by Schwartz & Gross, one of the most prolific architectural firms represented along Central Park West. The building is now run as a co-op and holds 109 units. It is listed as part of the National Register's Central Park West Historic District.

55 Central Park West is next door to Trinity Lutheran Church. In the early twentieth century, another apartment building, The Courtenay, stood at 55 Central Park West. The Courtenay featured only one apartment per floor and was built sometime between 1894 and 1908. In 1894, the lots were still undeveloped (see the attached image). The property belonged to C. Kimberly in the mid-nineteenth century, stretching from the future W. 65th to W. 67th Streets (as drawn on a later map from 1866).

The intricate stone patterns and colors on the first three floors of the high-rise are echoed in the building's tower and have been likened to flames. One unusual feature is the shading of the bricks on the exterior: they range from dark purple near the ground level and fade to a lighter purple as you look upwards, and then to a pale yellow. The effect is meant to give the appearance of the sun always shining on the building.

One of the early tenants in the building in the 1930s was Ginger Rogers. More recent occupants included designer Calvin Klein and actress Marsha Mason. Klein got in trouble with the building's management by installing a hot tub on the roof of his duplex penthouse in the 1980s. The building has been operated as a co-operative since the late 1940s.

In addition to "The Shandor," some refer to the building as "Spook Central" owing to a line in the movie Ghostbusters referring to the high number of paranormal events at 55 Central Park West in the 1984 blockbuster. The extra upper eight floors, rooftop temple, and gargoyles that appear in the movie aren't actually here - they were constructed on a sound stage in Hollywood.

Fifty-five Central Park West was considered mid-range in the luxury scale of its contemporaries. Apartments ranged from three to nine rooms and up to four bedrooms. A dropped living room was a common design feature in this building. This design feature was rarely seen in apartments, but millions of American families were introduced to the design by the famous opening of The Dick Van Dyke Show. In this building, what was unusual was the dropped living room was almost completely open to the entrance gallery instead of the gallery being its own space.

Alt, Annice M. Boak & Paris/ Boak & Raad: New York Architects. Xlibris.com, 2014.

Coburn, A. P. "Courtenay. Advertisement." New-York Tribune (New York, NY) August 30th 1908. , Classifieds sec, 13-13.

Finn, Robin. "Coveted by Many, Lived in by Few." New York Times (New York, NY) October 19th 2012. , Real estate sec.

Gaines, Steven. One Apartment, 75 Years. New York. October 28th 2005.

Levitas, Jeffrey. McKenna, Madeline. 55 Central Park West, Lincoln Square, Street Easy. Accessed September 6th 2021. https://streeteasy.com/building/55-central-park-west-new_york.

Valentine, D. T. New-York City, County, and vicinity. Map for Valentine's Manual, 1866, New York Public Library Digital Collections. January 1st 1866. Accessed September 6th 2021. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/f6924cb0-f3a1-0130-fce9-58d385a7b928.