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$95,000,000 Will Get You a Hell of a View!
Looking northwest from the west-facing terrace.
Funny story…last week I had an assignment to photograph the CEO of Estée Lauder from the 47th floor of the General Motors Building. As I do whenever I find myself in an office with a view, I went to the window and took some photos. The view looked northwest and the only building in the foreground was the Sherry-Netherland Hotel. I mentioned to the publicist how amazing it would be to check out the balconies on that building. Well, fast forward 18 hours, I got a call from the real estate editor of the NY Times asking me to take pictures of a co-op that just hit the market at $95 million. Unbelievably, I was assigned to shoot a residence in the very same hotel I’d photographed a day prior from that office window. What are the odds?!
View of the Sherry-Netherland Hotel from the General Motors Building.
I made my way across the park from my apartment on the Upper West Side and down 5th Avenue to the southeast corner of Central Park. The Sherry-Netherland Hotel is located on 59th street directly across from the Fifth Avenue Apple Store, catty-cornered from the infamous Plaza Hotel, and across Fifth Avenue from the southeast corner of Central Park. When I arrived multiple doormen greeted me graciously and showed me to the front desk. I was pointed to the elevators where I had the choice of 3 luxurious lifts with operators smiling at me attentively.
Lift operator in the luxurious elevators.
Elegant elevator lobby in the residence.
Once on the 18th floor, I opened a door to another world. Each of the three elevators open to a set of private entrances within a hallway of gold fixtures. Take a left and you’re headed to the professionally-equipped kitchen and dining room, or take a right and you’re headed toward a room with a wet bar made of solid mahogany.
Professional grade kitchen.
Dining room and solarium in the background.
Mahogany wet bar.
Though luxurious, the interior wasn’t quite my cup of tea. I’m sure every piece of furniture was an antique, beautifully crafted, and expensive, but a bit out-of-date for my taste. What I was truly taken by were the sweeping views from west-facing terrace of Central Park stretching as far north as the eye could see and, with one sweep of the head, you can see straight down Fifth Avenue to the Empire State Building. There are two identical terraces both spanning the south and west lengths of the building at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street (Central Park South).
West terrace panorama. Click to enlarge.
South terrace panorama. Click to enlarge.
Looking south down 5th Avenue with Empire State in the distance.
The listing boasts over 7,000 square feet of interior space and over 2,000 square feet of outdoor space. There is a third smaller, but substantial north-facing terrace located off of the master bedroom suite. The master suite also has his-and-hers private baths and walk-in closets.
Master suite terrace facing north.
Master bedroom
Walk-in closet and vanity.
On top of what I mentioned above, there is a solarium, a hallway of closets leading to the west wing of the apartment with a guest suite with two bedrooms, two baths and a small kitchen, various other bedrooms, offices, bathroom, and two maids quarters on a separate floor.
After my tour I was invited to come back in the early-evening if I wanted to take some photos from the terraces at dusk. You see, I have a rule that I always take up an offer when invited to shoot from a $95 million terrace…it’s just common sense.
So I went back to my office to file the photos to the NY Times as they were promptly closing the section. I relaxed a few hours and scooted back down to my new oasis in the sky.
View of the Plaza Hotel looking west on the south-facing terrace.
I spent about 30 minutes snapping away as the day turned into night and the glow of the city was able to burn into my images. Standing on the south-facing terrace you’re able to look straight down on the Fifth Avenue Apple Store which is actually a massive glass skylight for the underground store. It just so happened to be the day before the new iPhone 5 went on sale, so if you look closely, you’ll see a queue of people waiting overnight to be the first owners.
Great view of the Fifth Avenue Apple Store across the street.
Bergdorf Goodman, left, and Plaza Hotel, right.
View looking west down Central Park South at Columbus Circle and the Time Warner Center.
Simply put, the view is what makes this listing so unbelievably amazing, rare, and pricy. Granted, having an entire floor of an old-school luxury hotel isn’t bad…but nothing beats 2,000 square feet of outdoor space and the breathtaking views of this dream home.
I’m just happy I got to live that fantasy world…if ever so briefly.
Covering the Central Park Rape
There are times as a news photographer that I cringe when I get an assignment from an editor…and this was one of them. Let me back up….a few days ago I received an email from my mother linking me to a news report about the awful rape and brutal beating of a 73-year-old birdwatcher in a secluded area in Strawberry Fields in New York. Truly horrible, especially being my neighborhood and the fact that it took place in broad daylight near a very popular tourist attraction, the John Lennon Imagine Memorial.
The next morning I got a call from the NY Times asking me to head into the park to take pictures in the more secluded areas known as The Rambles, which are especially popular among birders and nature photographers….and apparently shady sexual encounters according to the article.
I arrived at the entrance of Strawberry Fields where the rape happened and found police tape marking a wide parameter around the popular tourist destination. I made some pictures of the detectives and crime scene unit working before I walked around the entire parameter in search of photos to illustrate the story.
Now, I’m quite familiar with The Rambles in Central Park as I’m and avid walker/jogger and even got married on the north side of The Lake. Normally I hike the paths with enthusiasm, but as I walked the paths on this day, it was a bit haunting given the events of the previous day.
After making some pictures of folks walking through the most isolated areas, I made my way back to my apartment to transmit the photos.
Soon after filing my pictures from Central Park, my editor gave me a call to see if I could rush up to the Special Victims Unit in East Harlem to take pictures of the rapist who was arrested hours earlier. It’s typical for high profile cases that police departments arrange a “perp walk” in order to show off their arrest to the media.
I arrived on the scene and there were already numerous news crews, both stills and video, network satellite trucks, reporters, and many locals (including school kids) waiting for a glimpse of the rapist. There was a lot of anger building among the locals…and they all yelled at him as he was led from the SVU to the awaiting patrol car. I took some audio of the crowd reacting to the man.
As he was led out, he immediately looked like one scary dude. He quickly glared at the news media waiting to take is pictures and spit in our direction before being promptly placed in the car. Locals cursed and jeered at him as he was driven off…
Such is a day in the life of a NYC photographer…
