Editing The Dakota (section)

==== Other features ====
The Dakota's basement contained a laundry, storerooms, a kitchen, and the mechanical plant.<ref name="p88892979" /><ref name="Reynolds p. 229" /> The main section of the basement is directly under the courtyard and has an [[asphaltum]] floor. On one side of the basement were heated and illuminated storerooms in which tenants could store items for free.<ref name="nyt-1884-10-22" /><ref name="NPS (1976) p. 5" /> There was also a wine cellar, which was empty by the 1960s.<ref name="Alpern p. 121" /> The quarters of the house staff were in the basement and included bedrooms; bathrooms and dining rooms for men and women; and a smoking room and reading room for men.<ref name="nyt-1884-10-22" /><ref name="NPS (1976) p. 5" /> Residents could also order food from the basement kitchen to be delivered to their rooms. After World War II, the kitchen was closed and became a studio apartment for Giora Novak.<ref name="Alpern p. 53" />

The building had several common areas for residents, including a dining room and a ballroom.<ref name="NY1900" /> The first floor contained the building's main dining room, as well as a smaller private dining room and a reception room.<ref name="Alpern p. 53" /> The floors were made of inlaid tiles of marble, while the walls had English oak wainscoting, above which were bronze bas-reliefs. The ceiling was also made of carved English oak.<ref name="nyt-1884-10-22" /><ref name="NPS (1976) p. 5" /><ref name="Reynolds p. 229" /> On one side of the dining room was a fireplace with a Scotch brownstone mantel, giving the room the quality of an "old English baronial hall".<ref name="nyt-1884-10-22" /><ref name="NPS (1976) p. 5" /> The original plans had called for the dining area to be accessible to the general public,<ref name="Stern (1999) p. 562" /><ref name="Alpern p. 48" /> but the plans were modified before the building opened, and the dining room only served residents.<ref name="Alpern p. 48" /> The Dakota also had a ladies' reception room with an artwork.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=October 23, 1884 |title=Art Notes and News |magazine=The Art Interchange |volume=13 |issue=9 |page=101 |id={{ProQuest|128289378}}}}</ref> There was a florist, a messengers' office, and a telegraph office for residents.<ref name="Stern (1999) p. 564" />

The Dakota's in-house staff included a house manager, doormen, chambermaids, janitors, hall servants, and repairmen.<ref name="Hawes p. 101"/> In addition to the Dakota's in-house staff, each tenant could employ up to five of their own servants on site,<ref name="nyt-2006-04-30" /> though residents typically had up to three servants.<ref name="Hawes p. 101"/> Other staff, such as laundry workers, manicurists, and hairdressers, did not live in the building.<ref name="Hawes p. 101"/> Servants employed by the residents, as well as visiting servants, occupied the eighth and ninth floors. The upper-story servants' quarters contained dormitories, bathrooms, laundry rooms, and dryer rooms.<ref name="Alpern p. 52" /><ref name="NPS (1976) p. 6" /><ref name="Hawes p. 96" /> The servants' quarters had been converted into apartments by the 1950s.<ref name="nyt-1959-09-07" /> Beside servants' quarters, there was a playroom and a gymnasium on the roof, which was labeled as the "tenth story".<ref name="Alpern p. 52" />