With 23-foot ceilings, 16 rooms, a Swedish sauna and fireplace mantels that date back to the 17th century, the triplex penthouse at the top of The Pierre is a bit big for one person. So while Martin Zweig’s widow, Barbara Digan Zweig, is waiting for a buyer for the $125 million (or so she thinks) crown jewel of Fifth Avenue, she’s downgraded to more reasonable accommodations: a $12 million apartment in the same building.
Mr. Zweig picked up the property last month from the Estate of Mary R. Ross, according to city records, in what looks to be an unlisted sale. Ms. Ross, who was the president of the New York Women’s Bar Association in the 1950s, passed away in the apartment.
We don’t know much more about the unit at 2 East 61st Street other than that it sits on the 24th floor—a far cry from the 41st-through-43rd-floor digs that she shared with her husband (at $21.5 million, it set a record when they bought it in 1999), but still well above the tree line at Central Park, which for $12 million we sure hope she faces.
We also know that Ms. Zweig isn’t hurting for cash. She must have paid the full $12 million bill up front, as the Pierre doesn’t allow financing. Oh yeah, and she’s also still on the hook for that $47,000-a-month maintenance fee at the penthouse, which covers electricity and the two-person housekeeping staff.
Maybe she can bring at least one of them down to the 24th floor while she waits for a buyer for the penthouse?
