Editing The Dakota (section)

==== Main courtyard ====
[[File:Snowedthedakota.JPG|thumb|The roof of the Dakota during winter, with the H-shaped central courtyard]]
The building is largely square in plan and built around a central H-shaped courtyard.<ref name="Reynolds p. 228" /><ref name="LC p. 135" /><ref name="NPS p. 2" /> The space measures {{cvt|90|ft}} long and up to {{cvt|55|ft}} wide.<ref name="Stern (1999) p. 562" /><ref name="Hawes pp. 94–96">{{harvnb|Hawes|1993|ps=.|pages=94–96}}</ref> The courtyard provides entry to all apartments and doubles as a [[light court]] for the interiors of each apartment.<ref name="Alpern p. 52">{{harvnb|Alpern|2015|ps=.|p=52}}</ref><ref name="Cromley pp. 143-145">{{harvnb|Cromley|1990|pp=143–145|ps=.}}</ref> A writer for the ''American Architect and Building News'' described the Dakota's courtyard and similar spaces in other buildings as "a safe, pleasant and sheltered place, under the eye of the Janitor, where tenants can enter, but thieves cannot...".<ref name="Cromley p. 145">{{harvnb|Cromley|1990|p=145|ps=.}}</ref> The writer also suggested that children could play within the courtyard, but other, unidentified observers believed such a usage attracted unsolicited attention.<ref name="Cromley p. 145" /> The apartments are accessed by four passageways, one from each corner of the courtyard.<ref name="NPS p. 2" /><ref name="Hawes pp. 94–96" /><ref name="AF p. 124">{{harvnb|Architectural Forum|1959|p=124}}; {{harvnb|Alpern|2015|ps=.|p=129}}</ref> The main courtyard also functioned as a meeting area for residents, since the rest of the building was designed with "the utmost in personal privacy" as a consideration.<ref name="Alpern p. 124">{{Harvnb|Batter|1964|p=96}}; {{harvnb|Alpern|2015|ps=.|p=124}}</ref> Over the years, the courtyard has hosted events such as parties and Christmas carols.<ref name="Alpern1992">{{Cite book |last=Alpern |first=Andrew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9dPPEk7FUs8C |title=Luxury Apartment Houses of Manhattan: An Illustrated History |date=1992 |publisher=Courier Corporation |isbn=978-0-486-27370-9 |page=57 |language=en}}</ref>

A glass [[breezeway]] ran along the western portion of the courtyard.<ref name="NPS p. 2" /><ref name="Alpern p. 162" /> This breezeway had been installed during the 1920s to protect residents from inclement weather. When the courtyard was rebuilt in 2004, the sidewalk under the breezeway was reconstructed with [[bluestone]] pavers that measure up to {{cvt|6|ft}} long and {{cvt|5|in}} thick.<ref name="Alpern p. 162" /> The Dakota's courtyard originally contained two fountains, which doubled as skylights for the basement. Horse-drawn carriages, entering from 72nd Street, used the courtyard to turn around.<ref name="Alpern p. 52" /><ref name="AF p. 125">{{harvnb|Architectural Forum|1959|p=125}}; {{harvnb|Alpern|2015|ps=.|p=130}}</ref> After automobiles supplanted horse-drawn carriages, the Dakota banned automobiles from the courtyard<ref name="AF p. 125" /> because the space could not support the weight of modern vehicles.<ref name="Reynolds p. 228" /> The deck of the courtyard was entirely replaced in 2004 because the steel beams that supported it had corroded severely. The modern courtyard is a reinforced-concrete slab, which is covered by granite [[Sett (paving)|pavers]].<ref name="Alpern p. 162">{{harvnb|Alpern|2015|ps=.|p=162}}</ref>

A service driveway also runs along the western side of the main courtyard.<ref name="Stern (1999) p. 562" /><ref name="Alpern p. 31">{{harvnb|Alpern|2015|ps=.|p=31}}</ref> The driveway descends to the basement, where there is a lower courtyard with the same dimensions as the ground-level courtyard.<ref name="nyt-1884-10-22" /><ref name="NPS (1976) p. 5">{{harvnb|National Park Service|1976|ps=.|p=5}}</ref><ref name="p88892979" /> This driveway was originally used to deliver goods and "commodities of housekeeping", as well as remove garbage and ashes.<ref name="Alpern p. 31" /> All servants entered and exited the Dakota through this driveway.<ref name="Alpern p. 31" /> The Dakota's distinct upper and lower courtyards differed from that of Hardenbergh and Clark's earlier Van Corlear apartment house at Seventh Avenue and 55th Street, where residents and servants used the same courtyard.<ref name="Alpern p. 51">{{harvnb|Alpern|2015|ps=.|p=51}}</ref><ref name="nyt-2006-12-17">{{Cite news |last=Gray |first=Christopher |date=December 17, 2006 |title=An Unusual Design Is Improved, and a Landmark Is Born |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/realestate/17scap.html |access-date=May 13, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220506123205/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/realestate/17scap.html |url-status=live}}</ref>