The Biggest Price Chop Ever?

SELLER: Amit Ben-Haim
LOCATION: 15 Central Park West, New York, NY
PRICE: $47,500,000
SIZE: 5,276 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms
DESCRIPTION: Step into your private landing on the 40th floor of New York's most sought after new condominium residence. Enjoy completely unobstructed views over Central Park West and the Hudson River. All major rooms have 14 foot ceilings. Masterful layouts by Robert A.M. Stern Architects. 5,276 square feet. Four bedrooms, five and one-half baths. Ground floor suite: 1,222 square feet with private street access ideal for owner staff offices. An extraordinary offering.

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: If the children will put on their thinking caps and dig deep into the recesses of their mind they might recall all the rumors and reports from October of '08 about Madonna's post-dee-vorce boy toy Alex "A-Rod" Rodriguez looking to buy an $80,000,000 penthouse at the super swank Indiana limestone clad 15 Central Park West building in New York City.

Remember all that nonsense? Not only was there a lot of whispering and speculating about the recently unhitched Mister Rodriguez's interest in the 40th floor condominium, there was a lot of (justifiable) shock and awe regarding the hair raising $80,000,000 price tag.

What was most puzzling and perplexing to Your Mama about the whole thing was not whether Mister Rodriguez could actually afford an eighty million clam condo, but rather that the seller–who the New York Times identified as a London based investor named Amit Ben-Haim–listed the four bedroom spread at nearly 4 times the $21,500,000 they paid for the place in April of 2008, just two months earlier. Two months!

It will be no surprise that Mister Rodriguez did not buy the apartment.

Soon after all that brouhaha and gossip about Mister Rodriguez, the owner took the apartment off the market. Until now. Thanks to the fine sleuthing of Natalie Attired, Your Mama has learned that the apartment that was once one of the highest priced listings in New York City has returned to the market with a serious karate chop to the asking price. Listing information now shows a price of $47,500,000. That's right, $47,500,000.

A few gleeful flicks of the well worn beads on our bejeweled abacus and we see that the sellers have chopped a mind melting $32,500,000 off the price. Now that children, has to be the largest single price chop ever, right?

The apartment measures 5,276 square feet, offers a private elevator landing and large public rooms with expensive views over Central Park. The private quarters include a 30 foot long kitchen/family room, 4 bedrooms and 5.5 windowless bathrooms including a master suite with two entrances, two walk in closets, two giant windows looking over Central Park and, natch, two private poopers, one of which has a bee-day for the all the people who like to have their naughty bits be sparkling clean at all times.

Forty seven and some million big ones not only buys you the apartment but also a 1,222 square foot ground floor suite where the Richie Rich owners can park their live in staff and still maintain a modicum of privacy. Maintenance and taxes will run a sizable but not unheard of $7,506 per month.

Other notable buyers in the Robert A.M. Stern designed complex include Sting and Trudy Styler, Denzel Washington, Norman Lear, writer John Ridley, NASCAR honcho Jeff Gordon, sportscaster Bob Costas and a slew of Wall Street types and big bizness barons including Goldman Sach's Lloyd Blankfein and Abigail Wexner, wife of billionaire Les Wexner who recently and quietly heaved their gigantic Fifth Avenue pied a terre on to the market with a $60,000,000 asking price.