So perfect it almost looks photoshopped...

It was only a matter of time before Alfonso de Angoitia Noriega, the director and executive V.P. of Grupo Televisa, S.A. got word of the Manhattan trophy craze. Mr. Noriega is at the helm the largest media company in the Spanish speaking world, so we assume that he's plugged in, turned on and otherwise well informed when it comes to global trends.

Besides, who with $16.5 million to spare could resist a grand 10-room corner apartment in the storied 1030 Fifth Avenue? City records show that Mr. Noriega and wife Maria de la Concepcion de Angoita Legorreta paid full ask for the co-op. The apartment has been listed with Sotheby's broker Serena Boardman since August.

Prime views of the Met. Or you could watch TV.

It's been a year of transition for the building's hallowed halls. Before Laurie Rudey (wife of timber tycoon John M. Rudey) decided to sell the apartment, George Blumenthal offloaded his full-floor six-bedroom for $31.5 million and Thomas and Diana Smith plunked down $15.5 million for the unit right above the de Angoitias.

Overlooking the Metropolitan Museum and the Park, the media mogul's new apartment boasts such impressive vistas that he won't need to switch on the TV for entertainment. What's more, those big beautiful windows were the subject of a lawsuit in the early 1990s. The Rudeys sued the Landmarks Preservation Commission for the right to keep their new aluminum windows, which they argued should have been grandfathered into the historic district.

The best feature of all is that the apartment is located right nearby fellow Mexican media and telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim's place—the Duke Semans mansion. Mr. Slim's mansion, which he paid $44 million for in 2010, is quite a bit fancier (and is said to be last private mansion on Fifth Avenue). Something to aspire to? Besides total market domination, that is.

kvelsey@observer.com

A classic Fifth Avenue building (www.cityrealty.com)

It must be a good time to buy real estate. After plunking down $10 million for a Palm Beach mansion in February Thomas Smith and wife Diane have scooped up a four-bedroom co-op at 1030 Fifth Avenue for $15.5 milllion.

Does Mr. Smith, the co-founder and president of Prescott Investors, know something about the real estate market that makes now a good time to buy? Or is the octogenarian, who lists his company's Greenwich address on the deed, downsizing from some larger place elsewhere?

If there's anything better than buying right now, it might be selling, especially if the Smiths have an even more luxurious place tucked away elsewhere in the city.

A good amount of space

In any event, the sixth-floor pad at 1030, will be a nice place to rest their heads at night. And it's good value too. The couple shaved 7.5 percent off the $16.75 million ask, and only a few months after the property hit the market, too!

Former owners Pamela and George Friedman—she a retired literary agent, he an investor, the both of them one-time wheaten terrier enthusiasts—leave behind a tony apartment with mahogany-paneled library with floor to ceiling bookcases, powder room and wet bar (we're intrigued by the idea of a wet bar in the library).

Naturally, there are also Park views and a master bedroom suite "with private dressing room and spa-like marble bath," according to the listing, held by Warburg brokers Bonnie Chajet and Ronnie Lane.

The building is also, thank goodness, pet friendly, in the event that the Smiths are also dog lovers.

kvelsey@observer.com

Better than 15 CPW?

Do you ever grow tired of looking out your window and seeing the same old sweeping views of the city? Apparently, Zachary Jared Schreiber and his wife Lori did. The couple is ditching their sprawling 33rd-floor apartment at 15 Central Park West for a sprawling 9th-floor apartment at 1030 Fifth Avenue.

Both apartments have views of the park, of course, but one is from the west side and the other is from the east, and the new one has 55-feet of Central Park footage, which we imagine would be a very refreshing shift. Plus those sunsets.

Or maybe Mr. Schreiber, the managing director at Duquense Capital Management just got tired of all the riffraff at 15CPW and was looking for something more exclusive?

Well, the couple most likely found it at the white-glove co-op, built in 1925 by J.E.R. Carpenter. They bought the full-floor, 6-bedroom apartment for $31.5 million from Cellular Communications co-founder George S. Blumenthal, according to city records.

The "baronial," sunlit apartment was listed with Warburg brokers Bonnie Chajet and Ronnie Lane for $35 million. Mr. Blumenthal has owned the co-op since 1995, when he bought it for a pittance—$5.7 million—according to the records of the Olshan Luxury Market report.

The six-bedroom apartment also features a gym, an eat-in kitchen, a library, powder room and wood-burning fireplace. There are too many en-suite baths and oversized closets to mention.

Will the Schreibers' be paying for the purchase of their new home with the sale of their old one?

Well, although the couple had their 15 CPW pad listed for a suspiciously-similar $31.5 million until last summer, it's been off-the-market since then.  The Schreibers bought it for only $11 million in 2005, but then it does fabulous sounding details like a "rich striped tiger maple paneled library" and prices have been going up at 15 CPW of late. Fancy a good trade?

kvelsey@observer.com

But according to a deed filed this morning, something incredible happened last Wednesday: John A. Griffin, who had been billionaire Julian Robertson's right-hand man before he left to start his own hedge fund, Blue Ridge Capital, and his wife, Amy, have paid $32.25 million for a 10th-floor co-op at 1030 Fifth Avenue (pictured). The place hadn't even been on the market.

According to a wedding announcement, Ms. Griffin, 12 years her husband's junior, is the daughter of the owner of an Texas convenience store/car washing/lubrication center/restaurant chain called Toot'n Totum. The couple's sellers are Richard Schmeelk, a private equity executive, and his wife, Priscilla. No mortgages were filed in public records, which means this was almost certainly an all-cash deal.

If private equity executives keep selling their Fifth Avenue co-ops to hedge fund executives willing to pay $30 million-plus, maybe New York will be alright after all?

More on the deal coming in the Manhattan Transfers column of this week's Observer.

(See Vespa-driving broker Sharon Baum's listing for good floor plans, or certified Lamaze instructor Fritzi Kallop's listing for the good interior shots.)

The sellers are an orthopedic surgeon named Dr. David Fleiss, and his wife, Karen, a Barnard trustee who founded the hedge fund KMF Partners. (If you're into this sort of thing, you may also remember Ms. Fleiss from an apartment deal with Brown Bunny director Vincent Gallo.)

Although she eventually hung up on me, Ms. Fleiss had this to say about the deal: “It’s a big apartment, it’s a very big apartment--we don’t need a gigantic space.”

I asked if it's good time to be selling: “I’m buying something else, so what difference does it make to me? None! Zero!”

I asked about the price tag: “I’m not going to respond that.”

I asked if she knew that no Manhattan co-op has ever sold above $46 million: “I’m not going to respond to that either.”

I asked if I could call back later, and then when she picked up she said: "This is not a good time to be calling anybody," and hung up. Still, there's more to come in tomorrow's paper.