Today in Class Envy: Brooke Astor’s Park Avenue Floor PlanHow DO you fit five bedrooms, three maids rooms, six bathrooms, six terraces, a library, a sitting room, a dining room, several walk-in closets, and a private gallery all in one apartment? We know you were wondering…
Margaret Truman Gets $2 Million Per FloorWhen she announced she was putting her Park Avenue apartment on the market last spring, writer and First Daughter Margaret Truman had banked on the triplex maisonette’s “brush with presidential history” helping to sell it, according to the New York Times. Apparently, it worked eventually. Truman, who authored a spate of murder mysteries set in the nation’s capital and was married to late Times editor Clifton Daniel, had offers by the beginning of fall. In October it had gone into contract, a deal that, according to a source, finally closed today. It took some price cuts, though: The triplex maisonette, which has four bedrooms, four baths, and a working fireplace, had an initial asking of $8 million but was slashed six weeks later to $7.5 million. The final price: $6 million. —S. Jhoanna Robledo
gossipmonger
Thy Neighbor’s Wife, and Thy OwnNan and Gay Talese are at work on his and her memoirs about their allegedly open marriage. Jon Bon Jovi is not pleased an energy drink named Mijovi is selling well near his New Jersey residence. Ted Koppel dropped the asking price for his Potomac, Maryland, residence from $4.1 million to $2.3 million. Hillary Clinton complained about the traffic in the Hamptons during her fund-raising stint out east. Stand-up comic Phil Stellar entertained an audience at the Ziegfeld after a movie projector broke during a showing of Hairspray. Meryl Streep says she was kicked out of Yale Drama School for not working hard enough. Gwyneth Paltrow uses face cream that contains snake venom.
buy low
Finding the Price Point on Park Avenue South
Another agent had been marketing this luxury prewar loft north of Gramercy for months at $715,000, but it didn’t move an inch. Listing broker Darren Sukenik, who just added 425 Park Ave. South to his roster, says that’s not a surprise. “Pricing is a science,” he declares. “Buyers aren’t stupid.” So he slashed the asking to what he says is “absolutely the right price” $695,000 and from the looks of it, he may be correct. On a price-per-square-foot basis, he’s on par with nearby competitors. But unlike other apartments similar in price and location, this one does not need renovations. Though it’s compact (850 square feet), pristine floors, ten-foot-high ceilings, and views of the Empire State and MetLife buildings mean it could pass for a beginner trophy apartment. In the week since it hit the market with the new-and-improved price tag, Sukenik says he’s had 50 showings but no takers just yet. S. Jhoanna Robledo
gossipmonger
Madonna in Malawi; Trump in TrafficMadonna really has adopted a Malawian kid, and today his name is David, not Luca. Donald Trump got boxed in by a UPS truck. Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King enjoyed the Streisand concert, as did other famous people. The Babs heckler is a stalker, according to Ken Sunshine. And Keith Olbermann’s bloggy stalker claims he stood her up. Tara Reid had a bad boob job, isn’t always drunk. Cindy Adams tells random baseball stories. Regis Philbin and Michael Eisner had lunch. Mike Bloomberg went to new Hearst building, has never been to new Bloomberg building. Vince Vaughn broke up with Jennifer Aniston last week, now makes out with other chicks. Ex–San Francisco first lady Kerry Kennedy is dating Times reporter Neil MacFarquhar. Kimberly Guilfoyle had a baby. Cindy Adams wore a wig to the airport. Isaiah Washington and Patrick Dempsey got in a fistfight while shooting Grey’s Anatomy, then they had a meeting. Hugh Hefner plays dominoes with his girlfriends, and that’s actually not a euphemism. Mike Bloomberg will close two lanes of Park Avenue to test-drive an Audi. A Blender writer will listen to “We Built This City” 324 times, for no apparent reason.