The Manhattan Scout Blog

158 Mercer Street is experiencing quite the celebrity traffic. Just last week we reported that rock star Jon Bon Jovi threw his 158 Mercer Street penthouse on the market. Now we learn from the New York Post that Huffington Post founder, Arianna Huffington, bought a condo inside the 158 Mercer Street building for $8.15 million back in December.

Just yesterday SAC Capital’s Steven Cohen listed his One Beacon Court duplex at 151 East 58th street for a record-breaking price of $115 million. Who would expect that only 24 hours later another apartment would roll over that price and surpass it by $10 million? That apartment is the 16-room penthouse of the recently deceased financial expert, Martin Zweig, located at 2 East 61st street inside the famous Pierre hotel.

The JDS Development Group, in partnership with Property Markets Group, originally planned and filed for a 679-foot, 51-story building at 107 West 57th Street. Now it looks like plans have changed. Earlier this week, the partnership bought Steinway Hall at 109 West 57th Street, and it seems that purchase was primarily for the air rights.

Six-time Grammy award–winning pianist Billy Joel has sold his penthouse at 128 Central Park South for $11.375 million. This massive apartment covers 10,000 square feet and has an astounding 3,000 square foot outdoor space. The view from the terraces is mind-blowing. Looking out over Central Park from this vantage point is what New Yorkers call a multimillion-dollar view. Billy Joel’s agent, Lisa O’Connor, says in awe: “Your jaw drops when the elevator opens.… It’s a real OMG moment. It’s like you’re floating on Central Park.

Director, writer, and actor Ethan Hawke, best known perhaps for his role as a rookie cop in Training Day, has found a buyer for his Chelsea townhouse. The townhouse at 353 West 21st Street listed for $6.25 million, but how much it traded for is not yet known. It was listed with Leslie Marshall and James Cornell of the Corcoran Group and was only on the market 10 weeks.