STEVEN GAINES
The Sky’s The Limit
Passion and
Property in Manhattan
A mesmerizing
inside account of the high-stakes world of Manhattan residential real estate
By Steven Gaines,
Author of the New York Times Bestseller Philistines at the Hedgerow
_____________________________
“Steven Gaines
takes us from New York’s most expensive condominiums and co-ops to the offices
of its most powerful real estate brokers to reveal the outlandish displays of
ego, bad behavior, and status hunger that come into play when the best addresses
in the city are on the line.
With his signature élan, Gaines weaves a gossipy tapestry of brokers, buyers,
co-op boards, and eccentric landlords and tells of the apartment hunting and
renovating adventures of many celebrities – from Tommy Hilfiger to Donna Karan,
from Jerry Seinfeld to Steven Spielberg, from Barbra Streisand to Madonna.
Gaines uncovers the secretive, unwritten rules of co-op boards: why diplomats
and pretty divorcees are frowned upon, what not to wear to a board
interview, and which of the biggest celebrities and CEOs have been turned away
from the elite buildings of Fifth and Park Avenues. He introduces the
carriage-trade brokers who never have to advertise for clients and gives us
finely etched portraits of a few of the discreet, elderly society ladies who
decide who gets into the so-called Good Buildings.
Here, too, is a fascinating chronicle of the changes in Manhattan’s residential
skyline, from the slums of the nineteenth century to the advent of the luxury
building. Gaines describes how living in boxes stacked on boxes came to be seen
as the ultimate in status, and how the co-operative apartment, originally
conceived as a form of housing for the poor, came to be used as a legal means of
blackballing undesirable neighbors.
A social history told through brick and mortar, The Sky’s The Limit is
the ultimate look inside one of the most exclusive and expensive enclaves in the
world, and at the lengths to which people will go to get in.”
____________________________
Hardcover book
with dust jacket is new. Copyright Little, Brown and Company, 2005.
FIRST EDITION. Retail price $26.95. Not price-clipped.
Shipping/handling is $3.75. |
