By Kim Velsey 1/25 10:03am

Manhattan Transfers

It's like a football field.

Alpha Kitty Atoosa Rubenstein Buys $8.8 M. Pad For Her Expanding Litter

Atoosa Rubenstein, everyone’s favorite cat lady, is moving her growing brood into bigger digs.

Ms. Rubenstein and commodities-trader husband Ari have purchased a palatial 4,300-square foot spread at 535 West End Avenue, city records show.

Ms. Rubenstein, the former whiz-kid editor of Seventeen and CosmoGIRL!, left the industry six years ago to start Big Momma Productions, a consultancy of sorts that appears to have done little other than maintain a vestigial web presence. Now she has three children, a rich husband and brand new condo on the Upper West Side. Read More

By Kim Velsey 1/07 10:52am

Manhattan Transfers

The double living room.

Producer and Former HBO Films Head Colin Callender Greenlights UES Buy

As president of HBO films between 1999 and 2008, Colin Callender was responsible for helping to erase, or at least lessen, the grimace caused by the words “made for TV.”

Maybe he and wife Elizabeth Callender can help do the same thing for the somewhat staid environs of Upper East Side? The pair just bought a four-bedroom, four-bath floor-through at 3 East 84th Street. Read More

By Kim Velsey 7/19/12 11:31am

Manhattan Transfers

Going to the suburbs.

Elisabeth and Tim Hasselbeck Sell UWS Condo At a Loss, Flee To The Suburbs

We all knew this moment would come—after all, what was conservative View co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck doing on the Upper West Side in the first place? Now she and ex-NFL-er husband Tim Hasselbeck have finally offloaded their four-bedroom condo at Ariel West, Gary Barnett’s glassy tower at 245 West 99th Street.

Sure, the couple took a loss on the place. They paid $3.3 million for the condo in 2008 and only got $3.1 million in this sale, city records show. But at least they got out! The couple is moving to Greenwich, Conn. with their three children, where they can count on a backyard, a three-story house and at least a few neighbors who have similar political leanings. Read More

By Kim Velsey 5/30/12 1:13pm

Manhattan Transfers

6 Photos

Chess Champion's Co-op

Chess Master Josh Waitzkin Makes Winning Move Into Greenwich Village Co-op

At times, it can be difficult to follow child chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin’s strategy. But Mr. Watzkin’s latest move—castling into a bright three-bedroom co-op at 200 West Houston Street—is a no-brainer.

The native New Yorker, on whom the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer is based, may have traveled the world, but he knows there’s no place like home when it comes to real estate investments. And the Greenwich Village pad is not so far from Washington Square Park, where Mr. Waitzkin first learned the game by playing blitz chess with hustlers. Read More

By Elise Knutsen 9/09/11 5:37pm

Super Brokers

John_Burger

What Recession! Brown Harris Steven's John Burger Sold $280 M. in Homes Last Year, Topping the U.S.

Who’s the best broker in the land? Brown Harris Stevens’ John Burger, according to the Wall Street Journal‘s annual list of the nation’s top real estate agents. The New York based broker is a heavy hitter in the industry, selling $279,841,487 in New York property last year. Figuring that 3% commission, Mr. Burger did well for himself last year, pocketing approximately $8,395,244 before Uncle Sam.

According to his personal website, Mr. Burger splits his time between his homes on the Upper East Side and in Watermill (naturally), and is fluent in Spanish and German. And English, we presume. Read More