Straight Out Of Venice Or Florence . . . Or The Bellagio

Whatever its color, some of the neighbors seem a little put off by it:

What color really is Julian Schnabel’s new building at 360 W. 11th St.?

What it’s definitely not is hot pink, according to a Schnabel associate who is working closely with the renowned artist and filmmaker on the new 17-story tower between Washington and West Sts.

Brian Kelly said Andrew Berman, director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, was way off base in calling the tower “hot pink” in The Villager last week. And Kelly stressed that Schnabel certainly did not pick the shade to get back at neighbors for opposing the tower, as Berman suggested, but because he liked it.

. . .

Kelly invited The Villager up to the site on Monday afternoon to take a closer look at the building. A TV crew from Channel 2 News had just finished doing a story on the building’s color. The TV reporter had gotten Schnabel on the line from Europe, where he is currently traveling. According to a source, Schnabel called the building’s color “Pompeii red” — and was “quite upset” during the brief interview.

. . .

At first, Kelly dubbed the building’s color “dusty rose” — then later said Schnabel is describing it as “Venetian red.”

“It’s straight out of Cuba, or Venice, or Florence,” Kelly said of the building’s design and color. “Venice mostly — it’s Venetian. There’s buildings like this in Naples, in Palermo, Sicily. If you go to Cuba, you see buildings like this. It’s more of a dusty rose color.”

The color will get deeper in the rain, and pollution will darken it over time, he added.

In addition, because the stucco didn’t cure properly, some of the white came through, Kelly noted. But he said Schnabel loved this fortuitous effect, which gave the paint a faded look — and ordered it not to be touched up.

. . .

Kelly challenged a reporter to poll passersby on their feelings on the building.

“We hate it!” spat a tall, silver-haired man as he purposefully strode down 11th St. carrying a gym bag. “We spent $5,000 to keep the son of a bitch from doing it.”

Asked what color he thought it was, he retorted, “Blood red! — It’s the final color!”

. . .

Meanwhile, for his part, Berman, G.V.S.H.P.’s director, remains unapologetic for calling the building hot pink.

“I heard they were calling it ‘Pompeii red,'” he said. “It’s splitting hairs. The color is just the icing on the cake, unfortunately. I would challenge Schnabel to show me a 17-story enormous box of a building like that anywhere in Florence or Naples. Frankly, I don’t care if it’s pink, green or blue — it’s still totally inappropriate.”