Gov’s Empire State of mind
Louis XIV-style UES townhouse on market 2 decades + now up for $16M
A chef in his whites — minus the usual hat — served Kathy Hochul and me hot steak and iced wine. Dinner was on the terrace surrounding Albany’s executive live-in mansion. The third uninvited guest? A nosy squirrel who kept running through the bushes.
It’s maybe consumed with the esprit de Cuomo who misses the place?
“No,” said the governor.
“Not him. Won’t be Cuomo.
“Look, I’m here two days a week. Funny, when I arrived, originally Cuomo was still in this mansion. Right here. Hadn’t moved out. Be historic if he returned and had to move me out so he could move back in — and even with his same crew of people — but won’t happen.
“Cuomo’s going for mayor. Can’t stop Cuomo from going for mayor. And no matter what anyone says about our current mayor he has done some good things. Could happen a candidate is some rich man — big money, wants importance, do good, get his name around — like maybe Ron Lauder . Or underestimated Long Island congressman Lee Zeldin. I’m more behind the scenes. I don’t get credit for things.”
Nat’l pol-ing Her thoughts on Kamala?
“Tough. I know about being No. 2. She’s been tested. Ready for the job.”
Shucking my heels for her comfy slippers as she — looking stunning in white pants, sweater, even a matching nose bandage “which finishes this week” — showed the mansion’s FDR wheelchair, its sign “Please do not sit,” 1932 Eleanor Roosevelt photo knitting, and photo of his mother Sara Delano standing behind at her son’s swearing in.
So if not re-elected, is NY’s 57th and first female gov back to glorious downtown Buffalo?
“No. I want to enjoy New York City. Appreciate the architecture. I love this toughest media market in the world. I just don’t love the everywhere scaffolding.”
Maybe would be good to show off this beautiful city to this beautiful governor.
To me Albany’s New York State Executive
Mansion on Eagle Street, circa 1875, once a wealthy man’s private home — huge outdoor pools plus an outdoor outfitted pool room plus spectacular gardens plus the uniformed officer inside the steel gates plus photos of the gov’s family plus the Princess Suite in which I was to be parked overnight — looks different from the days when I saw Matilda Cuomo’s redo.
Now, flowers, drapes, rugs, photos, tchotchkes, Teddy Roosevelt who built a third-floor gym so he could practice boxing, books by Grover Cleveland, Averell Harriman 1955, Dewey 1945, Nelson Rockefeller 1963, Hugh Carey — with his 12 children being sworn in, Alfred E. Smith who installed an elevator 1926, Gov. Lehman 1937, George Pataki’s World Trade Center charred steel piece.
Family matters
“Listen,” she told me, “My mother’s mother was abused. My mother uneducated. Raised three kids, some half siblings. Mom met dirt poor dad in Ireland in eighth grade. Life was trailer park. Next we lived over a gas station. Grampa was a servant. I wore used clothing. I’m now very empathetic. This life today means everything to me.
“And I care about the Jewish problem. Discrimination is violation. Hamas must be defeated. Laws need be changed. School teachers have to be accountable. To fight hate crimes. There has to be education in schools. I understand that New Yorkers are under siege right now.”
SPEAKING of history, remember we are speaking of American patriots. Like the one who saw action in Europe, action in the Philippines and a little action in a motel downtown, which we better not talk about.
Only in New York, kids, only in New York.
For 21 years, the grand townhouse at 163 E. 64th St. has been on and off the market, bouncing among nearly every brokerage in town. The property first listed in 2003, and at its peak asked $35 million.
The four-story house — sometimes called Versailles in Manhattan, with ornate, Belle Epoqueand Louis XIV-style interiors — is again for sale, now asking a much lower $15.99 million.
Should they suit a potential buyer, the home’s unique fixtures and furnishings are negotiable and could come with the sale.
The residence appears to hold a record for the New York City townhouse that has spent the longest stretch of time being tossed on and off the market — most likely because the house has never not been overpriced, realestate insiders say.
They also suggest that the seller — retired commercial realestate broker Kenneth D. Laub — doesn’t really want to sell it.
For a property that has languished on the market for so long, “you wonder what’s wrong, and the first thing you look at is the price,” said one industry insider.
“The pricing has always been above the current value. Listings are like milk. They don’t get better with age.”
Laub admits he wasn’t particularly interested in selling before, “but I am a serious seller now,” he told The Post in a message conveyed by the current listing agent, John Antretter of The Agency. “This is a large house. It’s an even larger house when you are 85 years old than when you were 55. So it’s time to slim down.”
Laub bought the residence in 1986 for $4 million. As time marches on, “life decisions change,” Antretter said. “It comes down to downsizing at this stage of life.”
‘Hosted Liza Minnelli’
Antretter has rebranded the property as Symphony House, in honor of Laub’s love of music.
“I’ve hosted many concerts and musical evenings with friends,” Laub added.
“We hosted Liza Minnelli’s engagement party. The list of performances is extensive. The whole second floor is professionally wired for sound and recording. Music has played a major role in my life and in the creation and use of my home. If you are interested, you can listen to [my] music on YouTube and enjoy some of my music about New York City.”
But Laub’s motivations aren’t simply about downsizing. After a seven-year slog in court, with several lenders suing Laub for allegedly failing to pay debts, the house is in foreclosure.
Last month, a New York court ordered that the house be auctioned off within 180 days.
In the first half of 2024, the Upper East Side — where Laub’s dwelling stands — saw 26 townhouse transactions, according to a report by Leslie Garfield, a brokerage specializing in townhouses. Townhouses represent just 2% of annual home sales in Manhattan.
“Think of the townhouse market as a subset of luxury, at the top tier of the market,” said Jonathan Miller, president of the appraisal firm Miller Samuel.
‘A beautiful block’
The 64th Street townhouse, in all its neo-Georgian glory, is 20 feet wide.
“The average townhouse is 18 feet wide, so 20 is wider than normal,” though still not uncommon, Miller said. The greater the width, the more flexible the floor plan. “I remember being in the house,” he added. “I remember it being beautiful.”
Laub’s house — with its current $15.99 million ask — is listed as having 8,000 square feet. Some insiders call the figure misleading, however, since that includes the basement space. City records say the “gross living area” is 6,716 square feet. Monthly taxes are something under $11,000.
Though the appraisal report characterizes the house’s Lenox Hill neighborhood near Lexington Avenue as “one of style and affluence,” it says that a location closer to Central Park would be “superior.”
That’s ridiculous, Miller says: “It’s a beautiful block.”
The backyard is small, but so are many townhouse backyards. “It’s almost better to have a roof terrace, to have more light,” Miller said.
Zoning allows the addition of a floor on top. “But you have to build it, and roof rights don’t have the same value as finished indoor space,” Miller said.
The elevator is a real plus. Last year, just 10% of East Side townhouses sold had one. The elevator in this home, originally installed in 1923, was redone inside by Laub’s designer, Ronald Bricke.
“The elevator is well-done and well-located,” said one real-estate insider. “For a lot of buyers, an elevator is a make-or-break amenity because it is hard to carve out a space for an elevator without really breaking up the floor plan.”
The house even has radiant heat beneath the sidewalk — no shoveling necessary.
“Properties like this are unique,” said Y. David Scharf, Laub’s lawyer.
“They have individual features and it is difficult to compare. Like all unique properties, it is subject to many vagaries. All it takes is one person who really wants it to pay $18 million, and all you need are two people to have it suddenly be a $19-million or $20-million sale.”
Now, as the house hits the market yet again, will it actually sell?
The museumlike interior, Antretter acknowledged, is not for everybody.
‘Center of the world’
“But the bones are excellent,” he said. “If the wallpaper isn’t to your style, you can bring your designer and do an update. If you go to the guest suites, you will feel like you are in Claridge’s.
“If somebody doesn’t have an appreciation for a 19th century chandelier, we can exclude certain fixtures,” he said.
That 19th century chandelier, made of bronze, is adorned with sea nymphs.
Laub currently lives in the house with his housekeeper, Winnie.
“I owned a yacht in the South of France called Exocet,” he told The Post. “My chef, Franck, and first mate, Andre, used to work at the house full time when we were not at sea. Then, when they were ready to move on, they found me my majordomo, Winnie, whom I’ve had for the last 18 years.”
Should Laub actually move, he says, he won’t stray far at all.
“I’m a true blue New Yorker and have lived in Manhattan since college,” he said. “That’s 63 years. New York, to me, is the cultural center of the world. I’m no snowbird. I will remain in the neighborhood and probably just rent a three-bedroom apartment.”