The Chatham's #18B is on the market for $6.75 million.

The market is tough right now- even the luxury market on the Upper East Side. It’s almost surreal what some people are trying to attract a buyer… The Chatham’s #18B just went on the market for $6.75 million, and in addition to one of the many condos designed by Robert A.M. Stern, the buyer will get the furniture and two Salvador Dali painting to sweeten the deal. I get the early impression that someone will like the look of this deal, no matter how strange it appears at first.

Image Credits: NY Curbed

Rush Limbaugh has been a consistent hater of New York taxes. With shows boasting titles like “El Rushbo to New York: Drop Dead,” his feelings have about as much subtlety as the ornate decor of his opulent condo. Making good on his promise to get out of New York because of the high taxes, Limbaugh’s penthouse at 1049 Fifth Avenue has been sold. It went for $11.5 million, after first being listed for $13.95 million in March and seeing a price chop of $1 million in April.

The condo is full of opulence. From the hand-painted ceiling murals to the gold leafing, well, everywhere. It has 10 rooms, including a phenomenal 30-foot-wide living room with fireplace and 4 terraces overlooking Central Park. Did he take a price cut? Sure. But he bought the place for just $5 million in 1994. He still has those taxes to pay the transfer taxes, but he’s still more than doubling his money. And taking it to Florida.

Photo Credit: Curbed

Madonna is building a million dollar gym in her townhouse.

What more could the Material Girl want than her $32 million Upper East Side triple-wide townhouse? How about a $1 million plus gym? The Real Deal and NY Post report that she’s flexing her financial muscle and adding 1,614 square feet to her mansion, for a grand total of 13,847 square feet. And then there’s the cellar, and the 3,000 square foot garden.

In addition to the gym, she’s also gutting the 10 bedrooms and 13 bathrooms. There will be a new master suite on the third floor… and a hair salon across the hall with a separate closet for her luggage. There will also be a second master bedroom. On the same floor. Further down, she’ll be adding a wine cellar and a playroom.

Photo Credit: TheRealDeal

Did they just Google you?

Doormen see a lot of clues going in and out of the lobby, but how curious do they get and how much further will they go to find out about the tenants in the buildings where they work? BrickUnderground opened a door to the reality that some doormen just may be Googling the people in their building. Here is the exchange they got from an interview with Rafat Ali, who founded and then sold ContentNext Media in California before moving to New York 6 months ago:

“Ali walked into his Murray Hill building yesterday morning [and] stopped to alert the doorman that he was expecting some guests for a housewarming party.

“His first reaction was, ‘You can’t go on the roof,’” says Ali, who immediately bristled at the doorman’s tone. “I said, ‘Okay, but now that you said that I might.”

The doorman accused Ali of having an “attitude,” then, according to Ali, blurted out: “You think you’re better than us. I Googled you and because you sold your company for however many millions of dollars, you think you are a bigshot.”

In the ensuing exchange, the doorman apparently threatened to have Ali kicked out of the building.

“I said ‘I don’t want to deal with this, I have guests coming over,’” says Ali.

So what do you do if you founded a new media company and somebody Googles you? You release your shock and awe on Twitter. That’s what Ali did and that’s how BrickUnderground found him.

According to the story, Ali has now received a written apology from the doorman, but it may be too late for the doorman to salvage a reputation with Ali. And as one person pointed out on twitter:

“Suppose it would be useless to point out that ’sold company’ = ‘better holiday tip’?”

Photo Credit: garryknight

In 2007 the Upper East Side all-girls prep Nightingale-Bamford School on East 92nd Street purchased the adjacent building for $9 million. The school has a $52.8 million endowment and asks for $33,000 in annual tuition from their students. They describe themselves as: “Founded by two bold, visionary entrepreneurs in the same year that women won the right to vote, the Nightingale-Bamford School has helped generations of girls to become strong, independent, confident women.”

According to the New York Post, Nightingale is claiming two elderly women in those neighboring rent-controlled apartments are stalling their expansion plans. Nightingale-Bamford is looking to boot two of the oldest generation out on their granny fannies. Sarah Faunce, 80, and Bertha Fabrizio, 78 have been residents for close to 40 years.

Photo Credit: Angel Chevrestt via New York Post

Sarah Faunce is one of several residents being forced out of their apartments by a Nightingale School expansion

“They are harassing two elderly women and trying to drive them out of their homes. I really believe they’re heartless. They knew these elderly people lived there when they bought the building. I think it’s terrible,” says lawyer David Rozenholc.

Currently, Faunce pays $1,043 a month for a one-bedroom apartment and Fabrizio pays $574 for a studio. In their defense, the school says it has done everything legally and should be allowed to take over the building to make room for their planned $5.3 million renovation that includes new classrooms, science labs, and counseling space.

“The applications for eviction of the two tenants are being processed in the normal course of events to ensure that all statutory and regulatory requirements are met,” said Division of Housing and Community Renewal spokesman James Plastiras.

The school has already been pushing residents out. Marina Kimble, 87, moved out after living there for 36 years. She was initially offered $1,700 and little help to find a new home. Once she hired a lawyer she was fairly compensated for her new neighborhood studio.

“I loved the place. I wasn’t about to move. They sent me to such horrible places,” said Kimble.

The school says a state agency has been allowing Faunce and Fabrizio to file multiple inquiries about the school’s plans which the school claims have been “merely for the purposes of delay.” The school is asking a judge to force a rule and provide a definitive date for their application to take over the apartment building.