Merrill Lynch President Ahmass Fakahany Sells One of His Little Italy Co-ops for $3 M.

The co-president and chief operating officer of the globe’s most boring firm happens to live in Little Italy’s hippest building.

The co-president and chief operating officer of the globe’s most boring firm happens to live in Little Italy’s hippest building.

Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter

By clicking submit, you agree to our <a href="http://observermedia.com/terms">terms of service</a> and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime.

See all of our newsletters

But Ahmass Fakahany, a top-ranking executive at Merrill Lynch, and wife Alsun Keogh have sold off one of their apartments at the Police Building, the baroque law enforcement HQ turned co-op at 240 Centre Street.

Their buyers, Mariangela Ventura and Paolo Nicola Rossini, spent $2.93 million. The Merrill couple has at least one other unit in the building—city records show three separate purchase deeds—and a source said Mr. Fakahany is staying in the building.

But in June 2006 they bought a place far away from the domed, senatorial Police Building, spending $4.925 million for a penthouse in the Park Imperial, a more banker-appropriate condo on West 56th Street. Four months and three days later, city records show, they sold it for a quick $1.325 million profit.

The century-old Police Building (the N.Y.P.D. actually left in 1973) has attracted artier owners than most midtown condos: There’s the novelist Toni Morrison, for example; the poet J.D. McClatchy; plus the models Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista. And Police co-op fan Calvin Klein is even on a couple of Centre Street financial filings for Mr. Fakahany, though it’s not clear if they’ve actually traded any properties.

The lure of bold-name neighbors aside, you’d think a bank COO would be more comfortable on West 56th than on Centre Street. After all, Mr. Fakahany is a serious man: He’s in charge of Merrill’s human resources, finance and global support functions (which means half of the firm’s day-to-day management), plus he was reportedly a candidate for the firm’s top slot after this year’s Stan O’Neal resignation.

But he’s not the Police Building’s only chief operating officer: Bear Stearns’s ex-exec Alvin H. Einbender reportedly spent over $10 million on his apartment and its Charles Gwathmey renovation.

 

 

 

Merrill Lynch President Ahmass Fakahany Sells One of His Little Italy Co-ops for $3 M.