Feed

Elise Knutsen

By Elise Knutsen 2/28/12 4:08pm

Manhattan Transfers

Jack Dreyfus

UES Apartment of Mutual Fund King Sells to Cocksure Todd Cohen and His Cosmo Girl

Jack Dreyfus was a man of manifold talents. Credited with single handedly inventing the concept of mutual funds, he ran the Dreyfus Fund and later started one of the first socially responsible investment groups. He was a champion bridge player, and even better at gin rummy. He also owned winning race horses and real estate, managing his greatly diversified portfolio until his death in 2009 at the ripe age of 95. It seems his estate is still working to manage all his holdings: his apartment at 14 East 75th Street has just sold. Read More

By Elise Knutsen 2/28/12 11:31am

The Eight-Day Week

gloria

To Do Tuesday: Steinem? We Hardly Even Know ’Em.

From co-founding Ms. Magazine to posing undercover as a Playboy Bunny, Gloria Steinem is, and will always be, protest girl extraordinaire. Though her hair may have grayed with 77 years of activism and antiestablishment essays, Ms. Steinem’s still got that mutinous gleam in her eye, that scintillating dissident sparkle. Tonight, she discusses her global travels Read More

By Elise Knutsen 2/27/12 2:25pm

Manhattan Transfers

Owen Laster

Lit Agent’s Tome-Heavy Home Sells At Sutton Place

Named by The New York Times as “one of the most powerful literary agents of his generation,” Owen Laster was an old-guard bookworm who spent his entire career at William Morris. Having worked with such literary luminaries as James A. Michener and Gore Vidal, Laster was a fixture in the book world for decades until he retired in 2006. Not surprisingly, the New Jersey native lived in a book-crammed co-op on Sutton Place, which his estate just sold. Read More

By Elise Knutsen 2/27/12 9:39am

The Eight-Day Week

greek

To Do Monday: Greek Love

While Greece may be getting a euro zone bail-out, it’s your civic responsibility to do your part for the Hellenic Republic. No, we’re not asking you to buy a gas mark and jaunt over to Athens, but rather to journey to Midtown to celebrate Clean Monday in Grecian company. At the Kellari Taverna, you’ll help Read More

By Elise Knutsen 2/24/12 12:51pm

Plaza-tudes

5 Photos

Behold, the master retreat!

Plaza Penthouse Triplex Ends Its Years of Agony

The fraught penthouse which crowns the Plaza Hotel may soon have a new resident, having found a buyer after years of ups and downs befitting a children’s novel. In 2008, Russian oligarch Andrei Vavilov agreed to buy the triplex for $39 million and another duplex, but the deal fell through supposedly because his actress wife wanted a still larger abode. Mr. Vavilov then sued the Plaza for fraud, claiming the developers had altered the dimensions of the property on floor plans. Naturally, the Plaza countered with a defamation suit.

When the dust settled, Mr. Vavilov agreed to buy the smaller duplex, but not the triplex, which was put back on the market last April with a $37.5 million asking price. The most recent asking price was $33 million, but it remains to be seen what the buyer ultimately paid. Read More

By Elise Knutsen 2/24/12 10:40am

The Eight-Day Week

sex

To Do Friday: Hot Type

Try as we might, we find practically all literary readings hopelessly dull, indulgent affairs. The pretense of erudition makes our toes curl (not in a good way) and our blood curdle (also not in a good way) within seconds of hearing “Thanks so much for coming! I’d like to read a portion Read More

By Elise Knutsen 2/24/12 10:29am

Manhattan Transfers

5 Photos

Looks like a hotel room, no?

Casino Kingpin Nick Ribis Sells to Bond No. 9 Perfumier

It was a wafty deal!

Nick Ribis, a titan of the casino industry, has properties dotting the country, which he himself has described as cheap. When it comes to his personal, property, however, Mr. Ribis prefers a nicer place. For years he has called Olympic Tower at 941 Fifth Avenue home. With the real estate market on the rise (here, if not in Las Vegas), Mr. Ribis decided to roll the dice and now he is cashing in.

It is a stinky deal, too—Laurice Rahme, the founder of New York-centric scents Bond No. 9, has purchased the olympian condo. Read More