354-362 W 34th St.
1929-30, Cross & Cross

Named after William Sloan, chairman of the YMCA's National War Council during World War I, this building was conceived as lodging and social facilities for men in the armed services. The 14-story, Georgian Revival, brick structure has a light court with two projecting pavilions facing West 34th Street. The two-story base features a limestone ground floor with two entrances framed by broken segmental pediments and carved sculptures. The upper floors have stone details like balustrades, quoins and keystones. It was designed by Cross & Cross, a firm founded in 1907 by brothers Eliot and John Walter Cross. John graduated from Columbia University and the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Eliot co-founded the real estate development firm of Webb and Knapp in 1922, and was responsible for the business side of the firm. They became a favorite among New York's elite and eventually received larger commissions, such as the General Electric Building, the City Bank Farmer's Trust Company building, and most notably, their building for Tiffany & Co. on Fifth Avenue.