Upper East Side

‘Shark Tank’ guru Barbara Corcoran unloads Upper East Side co-op for $4.8M
October 20, 2016

‘Shark Tank’ guru Barbara Corcoran unloads Upper East Side co-op for $4.8M

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Real estate legend and "Shark Tank" star Barbara Corcoran bought a glamorous duplex penthouse on the Upper East Side back in April 2015. She and her husband, former FBI agent William Higgins, dropped $10 million on the pad, quite the steal considering it originally listed for $17 million. A year later, they listed their other home in the 'hood, a classic Rosario Candela-designed co-op at 1192 Park Avenue. Now, five months later, they've unloaded the home for $4.87 million (h/t NYP), just under the $4.9 million asking price and a good deal more than the $3.5 million they bought it for in 2000.
See the apartment here
Saddam Hussein had a secret torture chamber across from Mayor Bloomberg’s UES mansion

14 (left) and 12 East 79th Street

October 13, 2016

Saddam Hussein had a secret torture chamber across from Mayor Bloomberg’s UES mansion

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Opulent Upper East Side mansions are not exactly what come to mind when one thinks of brutal dictatorships and torture chambers, but a piece in the Post reveals that Saddam Hussein kept a hidden detention room in the basement of the Mission of Iraq at 14 East 79th Street--just a block from Central Park and right across the street from former Mayor Bloomberg's home. Two Iraqi officials, who spoke anonymously, told the paper that when Hussein rose to power in 1979, he had the prison room installed so that his military intelligence officers (the Mukhabarat) could torture local Iraqis, "using them as leverage to get their relatives back in the homeland to surrender and cooperate with the tyrannical government."
It gets worse...
Art Nerd New York’s Top Event Picks for the Week – 10/13-10/19
October 13, 2016

Art Nerd New York’s Top Event Picks for the Week – 10/13-10/19

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In a city where hundreds of interesting happenings occur each week, it can be hard to pick and choose your way to a fulfilling life. Art Nerd‘s philosophy is a combination of observation, participation, education and of course a party to create the ultimate well-rounded week. Jump ahead for Art Nerd founder Lori Zimmer’s top picks for 6sqft readers! Architecture geeks rejoice, as Open House New York Weekend is finally here! It's time to reserve your spot to see some architectural gems normally closed off to the public. But if you're looking for something a little less hectic, head to Queens to check out a field of Christopher Walken busts at Socrates Sculpture Park. Clamp Art is also showing off Mark Yankus' gorgeous "portraits" of New York's buildings, and New York art world impresario Gregory de la Haba is also producing an evening opera at Carnegie Hall honoring Ireland's unsung hero, Lady Hazel Lavery. Plus for the bruncher with artistic inclinations, this Sunday you can learn more about art writers and curators (including me!) that make their living in New York. Details for these events, and even more of my picks, ahead.
More on all the best events this way
A look at Yorkville’s affordable housing decline
October 10, 2016

A look at Yorkville’s affordable housing decline

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Despite its location just a few blocks east of Park Avenue, Yorkville remains one of Manhattan’s most affordable neighborhoods south of 95th Street. The neighborhood’s reasonable prices partially reflect its reputation. Simply put, Yorkville has never been considered quaint or hip. Since its development in the nineteenth century, it has been best known for its German delis and unremarkable yet practical residential housing. Another factor that has historically kept the neighborhood’s housing prices below average is its high stock of rent stabilized units. Unfortunately, Yorkville’s reputation as a great place to find a bargain may soon be compromised. Recently released data on affordable housing stock in New York reveals that rent stabilized housing in Yorkville is rapidly declining. Indeed, between 2007 and 2014, the neighborhood lost more rent stabilized units than any other neighborhood in the city’s five boroughs.
read more here
For $9.6M, an elegant Spanish Colonial condo awaits on the Upper East Side
October 4, 2016

For $9.6M, an elegant Spanish Colonial condo awaits on the Upper East Side

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On the one hand, you could say this mansion-esque 3,100-square-foot Spanish Colonial Revival-style home embodies classic Upper East Side pre-war co-op charm–at a condo price. A Park Avenue address in Carnegie Hill usually means the former, as do the home's 1928 bones, sprawling, palatial layout and stunning entry foyer. But this $9.6 million condo at 1235 Park Avenue is newly-renovated and though the price may be steeper, it comes with the flexibility a condominium generally affords.
Tour the rooms
The ‘empty mansions’ of Huguette Clark: Luxury and mystery of an era past

Photo courtesy of Emptymansionsbook.com.

September 19, 2016

The ‘empty mansions’ of Huguette Clark: Luxury and mystery of an era past

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Reclusive copper heiress Huguette M. Clark died in 2011 at the age of 104; in the years preceding and after her demise, obsessive followers of her story puzzled over her decision to remain in a small hospital room for the last 20 years of her life after having rarely left her apartment in the decades before. In this day of heiresses who run fashion companies and give house tours, Huguette Clark’s wealth and her retreat from the public eye—despite being by all accounts entirely lucid—have made her the target of endless fascination. But almost as fascinating are the storybook-grand properties that still stand as remnants of a gilded age long past and what remains of one of its biggest fortunes, barely touched and preserved as if in aspic until their recent acquisition by a new generation of magnates and heirs.
See more of Huguette Clark's abandoned Gilded Age opulence
UES residents not happy about plan to turn their playground into high-end housing

Google Street View of the Holmes Towers with the playground in question in the foreground

September 19, 2016

UES residents not happy about plan to turn their playground into high-end housing

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This past spring, the de Blasio administration revealed plans to lease "empty" NYCHA land--parking lots and grassy areas--for the creation of market-rate housing, which certainly ruffled the feathers of affordable housing advocates. Though the proposal hasn't been set into motion city-wide, it is taking shape at one housing project on the Upper East Side, the Holmes Towers on 92nd to 93rd Streets and 1st to York Avenues. As the Daily News reports, NYCHA recently "described tenant support for the plan to let a developer build 300 units — half market rate, half affordable — where the Holmes playground now sits." But this "tenant stakeholder committee" says they feel very differently.
READ MORE
Video: Visit designer Kate Spade in her art-filled, unfussy Upper East Side home
September 19, 2016

Video: Visit designer Kate Spade in her art-filled, unfussy Upper East Side home

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Ultra-popular clothing and accessories designer Kate Valentine Spade invites us into the Upper East Side apartment she shares with her husband/business partner Andy Spade and young daughter, courtesy of People magazine. She's managed to snatch a free moment away from her new accessories line Frances Valentine to give us a whirlwind tour of her two favorite rooms.
Step inside and have a look
My 860sqft: Ashley Davis of CITYROW opens up her mid century-meets-contemporary Yorkville pad

Our ongoing series “My sqft” checks out the homes of 6sqft’s friends, family and fellow New Yorkers across all the boroughs. Our latest interior adventure brings us to a fitness studio COO’s Yorkville one-bedroom, infused with mid-century-modern furniture and contemporary decor. Want to see your home featured here? Get in touch!

September 13, 2016

My 860sqft: Ashley Davis of CITYROW opens up her mid century-meets-contemporary Yorkville pad

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Ashley Davis moved to New York City after graduating from college in 2004. She thought it would just be for a couple years, but, like so many of us, she never left. She's been living on the Upper East Side since 2007 and has been in her current Yorkville apartment for three-and-a-half years. After making a career shift from the advertising/tech world to joining her friend and former colleague Helaine Knapp at CITYROW (Ashley is the fitness studio's chief operating officer), as well as very recently welcoming her boyfriend into her apartment, Ashley has created an inviting home that's a mix of mid-century-modern furniture, contemporary decor, lots of textures, and a sophisticated color palette.
Take the tour
One month after anti-Trump sale, Keith Olbermann’s former Trump Palace condo returns for $3.9M
September 2, 2016

One month after anti-Trump sale, Keith Olbermann’s former Trump Palace condo returns for $3.9M

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Liberal commentator Keith Olbermann listed his Trump Palace condo on the Upper East Side for $3.9 million in April, publicly citing his opposition to the presidential candidate. Even though he took a loss on the sale (it went through for $3.8 million in July, but he bought it for $4.2 million in 2007), he couldn't hide his relief: "I feel 20 pounds lighter since I left… If they had changed the name of it to something more positive like Ebola Palace I would have happily stayed." Now, just a month after Olbermann's tweet that he was "FREEEEEEEEE!" and "got out with 90% of my money and 100% of my soul!" the 40th floor spread is back on the market for $3.9 million. As LLNYC reports, the buyer was Syrian businessman Albert Nasser, who has very different reasons for unloading the condo.
READ MORE
For $2.38M, an Upper East Side maisonette with a generous side of landscaped garden
September 2, 2016

For $2.38M, an Upper East Side maisonette with a generous side of landscaped garden

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This two-bedroom co-op at 11 East 92nd Street tops the menu for prime location and well-designed space: In Carnegie Hill half a block from Central Park, with spacious bedrooms on opposite sides, the elegant first-floor home offers a wood-burning fireplace and pretty pre-war details like a step-down living room. But the best surprise is the generous private landscaped side and rear garden paradise with its own brick fireplace.
What else comes with that?
This never-built Washington monument would have been the city’s tallest structure

View of the proposed monument from the New York Herald in 1847 (L); Cornerstone ceremony procession by James S. Baillie, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

August 31, 2016

This never-built Washington monument would have been the city’s tallest structure

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When most people think of George Washington and New York City they envision the Washington Square Arch, not only one of the city's most notable landmarks, but one that clearly pays homage to our nation's first president. Real history buffs may also recall the Equestrian Statue of Washington in Union Square. But before both of these sites were erected (in 1895 and 1865, respectively), there was a plan in 1847 to honor him on the Upper East Side by building a 425-foot monument that would've dwarfed Trinity Church, the tallest building in the city at the time.
So what happened?
Scarlett Johansson looks to the Cielo for an Upper East Side rental
August 22, 2016

Scarlett Johansson looks to the Cielo for an Upper East Side rental

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Scarlett Johansson, the all-time highest-grossing actress on the planet with movies that have pulled in over $3.3 billion, is reportedly looking for an Upper East Side home for herself, hubby Romain Dauriac and daughter Rose. Among the neighborhood's rental offerings to spark the actress's interest was a three-bedroom corner unit in the Cielo at 450 East 83rd Street, according to the Post. The 21st-floor pad offers enviable views and sunlight through floor-to-ceiling windows.
Take a look
Friday 5: Upper East Side elegance for less, buildings now offering free rent

Every Friday 6sqft is rounding up five of the best rental deals showcased on CityRealty.com’s newly launched no-fee rentals page, a space where house hunters can find the best concessions being offered by landlords across the city.

August 19, 2016

Friday 5: Upper East Side elegance for less, buildings now offering free rent

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The Upper East Side has long been one of Manhattan's most attractive neighborhoods, embodying a certain kind of elegance and convenience that's difficult to find in other parts of the city. Homes here are often situated just a short walk from Central Park; shopping, dining, museums, and entertainment are plentiful and in close reach; and quiet tree-lined streets highlighted by historic architecture provide for a picturesque backdrop that further elevate the offer. Ahead we spotlight a few of the best buildings on the Upper East Side currently offering free rent and more.
check out this week's deals here
Harriet the Spy’s $5M Upper East Side Townhouse Finds a Buyer
August 16, 2016

Harriet the Spy’s $5M Upper East Side Townhouse Finds a Buyer

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In May, the Queen Anne-style townhouse said to have inspired the fictional Upper East Side home of "Harriet the Spy" hit the market for the first time in 70 years, asking $4.95 million. And in less than three months it's already entered entered contract, reports Curbed. Author Louise Fitzhugh lived on 85th Street, so it's no surprise that this gorgeous 1880s property at 558 East 87th Street sparked her creative juices. Located on the corner of a quiet and leafy Yorkville block in the Henderson Place Historic District, the 3,000-square-foot stunner overlooks Gracie Mansion, Carl Schurz Park, and the East River, "the perfect setting to get into covert shenanigans, à la Harriet," as 6sqft previously quipped.
See the whole place
Food Network’s Ina Garten Buys Former House & Garden Editor’s Park Avenue Pad for $4.65M
August 15, 2016

Food Network’s Ina Garten Buys Former House & Garden Editor’s Park Avenue Pad for $4.65M

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In November 6sqft featured the Upper East Side co-op at 563 Park Avenue listed by Nancy Novogrod, former editor-in-chief of Travel + Leisure magazine and Condé Nast’s House & Garden, and her husband, John, noting the just-right decor and roll-up-your-sleeves renovated kitchen. The Observer reports that sleeves will indeed be rolled up in the marble-topped chef's paradise, as Food Network's Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten and her husband, Yale University dean emeritus, Jeffrey, have purchased the two-bedroom home for $4.65 million.
Take another look at the couple's new Park Avenue pied a terre
$4M UES Limestone Mansion Duplex Wows With Tiffany Windows, a Fireplace and an Elevator
July 18, 2016

$4M UES Limestone Mansion Duplex Wows With Tiffany Windows, a Fireplace and an Elevator

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The elegant carved limestone mansion at 35 East 68th Street on the Upper East Side is quite a standout, even in a neighborhood filled with historic architecture. 6sqft previously featured another duplex in the 13,000-square-foot Beaux Arts beauty that was built as a private residence for physician Dr. Edward Kellogg and grain fortune heiress Mary Dows by Carrere & Hastings, the architecture firm who designed the Frick Collection and the New York Public Library. The landmarked mansion was converted into an eight-unit co-op apartment building, seven of which appeared on the market together last year for $34 million; but it looks like a sale never happened. Now another three-bedroom duplex is for sale, asking $3.95 million. Unlike the other listing, the home's grand historic details are very much in evidence, from the gorgeous oak paneled living room with 14-foot ceilings to Tiffany stained glass windows and a wood-burning fireplace–complemented by a modern custom kitchen and accessible by an elevator.
Tour this grand historic home
Friday Five: 5 Upscale Manhattan Buildings Offering Free Rent and Gift Cards

Every Friday 6sqft is rounding up five of the best rental deals showcased on CityRealty’s newly launched no-fee rentals page, a space where house hunters can find the best concessions being offered by landlords across the city. 

July 15, 2016

Friday Five: 5 Upscale Manhattan Buildings Offering Free Rent and Gift Cards

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A new week means a slew of new rental deals being offered across the city. Today we're focusing on upscale rentals in Manhattan, scanning the island from top to bottom, from the Upper East Side to FiDi, for the most generous of rental concessions. Standouts ahead include one month’s free rent and a $1,000 MasterCard gift card at a Robert A.M. Stern-designed Tribeca tower, and two months of free rent on beautiful new rentals in Yorkville.
5 of the Best deals here
LPC Approves Faux-Classical Mansion on Notorious UES Site of Blown Up Townhouse
July 12, 2016

LPC Approves Faux-Classical Mansion on Notorious UES Site of Blown Up Townhouse

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Ghoulish history be damned, the Woodbine Company has just received tentative design approvals from the Landmarks Preservation Commission to build a single-family, faux-classical mansion upon the parcel where Dr. Nicholas Bartha blew up his townhouse ten years ago. The now vacant 20' x 100' parcel once held the home of Dr. Bartha who purposely tampered with a gas line to destroy the five-floor mansion to punish his ex-wife for divorcing him and having the court rule that he had to sell the house as part of the settlement. The doctor vowed in an e-mail, "I will leave the house only if I am dead," and on July 10, 2006, set off an explosion which shook the typically quiet Upper East Side block. Only the doctor was inside during the time of the explosion and he succumbed to his injuries five days afterwards.
More on what’s coming to the infamous site
July 11, 2016

Germantown NYC: Uncovering the German History of Yorkville

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If you read 6sqft's post about Kleindeutschland, or "Little Germany," you know that in 1885 New York had the third largest German-speaking population in the world, outside of Vienna and Berlin, and the majority of those immigrants settled in what is today the heart of the East Village. You also know that the horrific General Slocum disaster in 1904 pushed the last of the Germans out of the area. And as promised, we're here to tell you where that community went-- Yorkville, then commonly known as Germantown. The Upper East Side neighborhood, bounded by 79th and 96th streets and running from the east side of Third Avenue to the East River, exploded with immigrants from the former Prussian Empire in the early 20th century. Those looking for a fresh start after the tragedy saw opportunity in the many available jobs in Yorkville. Like the East Village, Yorkville still has many reminders of its German past, as well as still-thriving cultural spots.
Take a tour of Yorkville's German history
Jimmy Choo Co-Founder Offers UES Mansion Penthouse for $60K/Month
July 6, 2016

Jimmy Choo Co-Founder Offers UES Mansion Penthouse for $60K/Month

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Jimmy Choo co-founder Tamara Mellon has long been trying to sell her palatial penthouse pad, which sits atop the Carhart Mansion at 3 East 95th Street. The Carnegie Hill apartment, which boasts five bedrooms and one of the most impressive shoe closets of all time, recently reduced its price from $34 million to $27 million. And now it's on the rental market for $60,000 a month. The 7,000-square-foot penthouse has a long line of impressive owners—Mellon bought this from the Seagram heir Charles Bronfman Jr.
Check out that closet
The Upper East Side Townhouse Where Henry Fonda Married a Countess Asks $11M
June 30, 2016

The Upper East Side Townhouse Where Henry Fonda Married a Countess Asks $11M

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This elegant five-story single-family townhouse at 151 East 74th Street has been a home to a president's son (Captain Kermit Roosevelt, son of President Theodore Roosevelt) and Hollywood royalty. The late, great actor Henry Fonda called the nearly 6,000-square-foot townhouse home and hosted his wedding to 23-year-old Italian countess Afdera Franchetti here in 1957. Built in 1878, the brick Colonial Revival style home remains an elegant address, and is on the market for $11.225 million. There have been recent improvements and upgrades, with plenty of potential left for transformation. With that many floors, two decks, a landscaped backyard and a prime Upper East Side location on a gorgeous townhouse block near Central Park, the landmarked home might be just the one for a certain outgoing president who has expressed interest in living in New York City after leaving the White House. There's definitely plenty of room for college kids and their friends, dogs, staff and security personnel.
Tour the townhouse
$2M Upper East Side Co-Op Boasts a Marble Mantle from the Plaza Hotel
June 23, 2016

$2M Upper East Side Co-Op Boasts a Marble Mantle from the Plaza Hotel

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When your home boasts a marble mantlepiece that originally belonged to the Plaza Hotel, you know you've got something special. Such an item can be found at this prewar co-op, on the market for $1.995 million at the Lenox Hill building 333 East 68th Street. The owner, a former Saks Fifth Avenue executive, took on the designer Lindsay Coral Harper to gut renovate it. She transformed a traditional two-bedroom co-op was into a luxurious bachelorette pad that melds new luxury finishes with restored historic details.
See more
The MTA Joins Forces With Arup Engineers to Build Quieter Subway Stations

Artist’s impression of one of the Second Avenue subway’s 16 new stations

June 16, 2016

The MTA Joins Forces With Arup Engineers to Build Quieter Subway Stations

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While the New York City subway system has improved by leaps and bounds since the days of squealing graffiti-covered, crime-riddled trains, stations are still an unpleasant reality. Between the grime, stench, heat and noise of oncoming trains (which in turn makes it impossible to hear indecipherable, possibly important announcements), by the time the actual train shows up we've had our share of city cacophony. The good news is that an engineering firm is working with the MTA to create the amazing possibility of quieter subway stations, Wired reports. The challenge of quieting the din lies in the fact that a subway station has to be "incredibly strong, graffiti-proof, soot-resistant, human bodily waste-resistant,” according to Alex Case, an architectural acoustician with the University of Massachusetts Lowell. This indestructible infrastructure by nature creates an echo chamber that amplifies the racket. Engineering firm Arup has been hired by the MTA to improve the acoustics of the new Second Avenue line, the first phase of which–a stretch of track that lies 10 stories below the Upper East Side–is scheduled to open this December, with 8.5 miles and 16 new stations on the way when the line is complete.
Find out how they're doing it
Landmarks Approves Roman Abramovich’s $80M UES Makeshift Mansion
June 14, 2016

Landmarks Approves Roman Abramovich’s $80M UES Makeshift Mansion

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Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich started assembling his $78 million trio of Upper East Side townhouses at 11-15 East 75th Street back in January of 2015, but it wasn't until this past March that he first released his proposal to combine the townhouses into a giant mansion. The Department of Buildings rejected his initial, $6 million proposal, which called for "an 18,255-square-foot mansion with a six-foot front yard, 30-foot backyard, and pool in the cellar," as 6sqft previously reported. But since the homes are located within the Upper East Side Historic District, it's the Landmarks Preservation Commission who has the final say. The LPC also rejected Abramovich's first proposal in April, but today they reviewed and approved a revised plan from his architect Steven Wang, along with big-name firm Herzog & de Meuron as design consultant. It calls for a modified restoration of the current facades and the removal of the rear yard building elements to be replaced with a garden and new glass facade that unites the three homes.
More details this way
Archilier Architects Design Empire State Building-Sized Tower for Former Subway Inn Site
June 10, 2016

Archilier Architects Design Empire State Building-Sized Tower for Former Subway Inn Site

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Earlier this year, 6sqft showed you new renderings of Archilier Architects' "Hudson Rise" mixed-use skyscraper planned for Manhattan's west side. Now the design firm has published their vision for a soaring, super-thin supertall at the former site of beloved dive bar Subway Inn at 151 East 60th Street. Kuafu Properties owns the 28,619-square-foot, six-building assemblage at 143-161 East 60th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues, which they acquired from the World Wide Group last year for $300 million, according to The Real Deal. Kuafu is one of the developers behind the Archilier-designed Hudson Rise development, thus these released renderings may indeed be working images of the planned project. The slender tower shown would encompass 411,700 gross square feet of area and rise 1,240 feet high, just 10 feet shy of the Empire State Building's height of 1,250 feet, despite containing just one-fifth of the floor space. The tower would technically be the tallest building on the Upper East Side (by far), but would be 158 feet shorter than nearby 432 Park Avenue in Midtown.
More details ahead
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