As I mentioned a decade ago, I bought an apartment in New York, when the city made high-end Airbnbs illegal, to serve as my urban base. I always loved New York and could not imagine living anywhere else. It’s the best and most dynamic city in the world. It can cater to any niche interest you have. It’s the haven for my intellectual, social, artistic and professional endeavors.

My key consideration at the time was the specific layout of the apartment and not its location. I wanted a huge terrace connected to the living room to be able to have indoor/outdoor living and host epic parties. I preferred double-height ceilings and wanted a hot tub on the terrace.

The neighborhood was a secondary consideration. I found an apartment that met all my requirements: 3,000 sf, 2,500 sf wrap-around terrace, hot tub, double height celling. It was seemingly at a reasonable price, and as a bonus had a large storage unit I could convert into a game room. It also came with a parking spot in the building.

The apartment happened to be in the Lower East Side which worked well for me. It’s a young and hip neighborhood with great bars and restaurants. Just as importantly it’s a 10-minute Uber ride to both Brooklyn Padel Haus clubs to play padel!

Sadly, not everything was smooth sailing. The building had been badly built and there was first a massive leak from my terrace to the apartments below. I had to rip out my terrace to give the building access to repair the roof. It took me years to realize that they did not have the money to properly repair the roof, and it only got done 4 years later when I paid for it. Once I thought I was done with repairs, the roof above me failed destroying my apartment and essentially leading to a gut renovation.

On the bright side, this gave me the opportunity to rebuild it as my dream apartment. I had meant to work with award winning architects SAOTA for my Dominican Republic project. As the project did not materialize, they offered to help in New York. Boy did they deliver. The terrace was gorgeously upgraded with beautiful pavers, a single piece metal pergola, and gorgeous landscaping with tons of trees and flowers. In addition, we added a firepit and replaced the hot tub with a more contemporary one.

We also redid the interior, putting beautiful floors with radiant heading, gorgeous wood slats, a contemporary chandelier, and custom-built bookcase. We fully redesigned my bedroom and bathroom and walk-in closet. The bathroom now has a freestanding counter, a huge contemporary eggshell bathtub and shower with infinite water jets. Every bathroom also has Toto toilets.

The piece de resistance is clearly the Planar video wall that I use to display gorgeous video art above a beautiful gas fireplace.

You can see the ensemble in the amazing video below.

Once all the issues were addressed a few years ago (and it’s worth noting that they did not come back), the apartment became perfect for me. It had my exact aesthetic and became the location of countless intellectual salons, poker nights, game nights and parties of all types.

Alas, it is no longer serving my purposes as my life profoundly changed with the arrival of my kids. All of a sudden new variables that had not entered in the consideration set in 2015 became a lot more relevant:

• Availability of large green spaces and kids’ playgrounds in the neighborhood.
• Distance from the best friends for playdates.
• Relevant subway access to get to school.
• Space for a kid’s playroom independent of the adult living room.

Just as importantly, it’s now rather small given that I am considering having another kid and need room for the nanny, Angel, visiting friends and family, etc.

As such, I have decided to follow the path of many parents before me and to move to a larger apartment in Tribeca. It’s with great chagrin that I am selling this apartment. It’s really been perfect for me and a labor of love. It’s especially sad since I am selling it for significantly less than it cost me to acquire and turn into my dream penthouse, but priorities change and here we are.

You can find the listing at: https://streeteasy.com/building/one-avenue-b/ph1

If you are interested reach out to Andrew Azoulay at (917) 622-2334.