1474 Third Avenue (The New Yorker)

The elevation is plain: brick over a retail base, evenly spaced punched windows, no setbacks, no balconies, no ornament. It is the vernacular of Third Avenue infill in the early 1980s, built after the avenue's elevated line was long gone and before the corridor's later luxury cycle. Consistent fenestration is the one thing the facade does well; there is nothing here that will be called out as architecture, and the building does not pretend otherwise.

The interior program is where the value is. Two apartments per floor, north and south, across a 51-foot plate means every residence has a full frontage on the avenue and a full rear exposure. The recorded transfer history shows the N and S lines trading as separate homes on most floors and combined into full-floor residences on several — 11, 14, 16 and the penthouse level all appear as combinations in ACRIS. The penthouses sit at the top of the stack with the building's clearest outlooks.

Three retail units occupy the base, recorded as separate condominium units (lots 1101, 1102 and 1103) and conveyed to a third-party retail owner in 2008 and 2009. Buyers should note that the commercial units are not owned by the residential unit owners collectively and generate no income for them; they are simply neighbors within the same declaration, with their own votes and their own common-charge obligations.

The New Yorker runs as a full-service condominium at boutique scale: a full-time doorman, a live-in resident manager, a renovated lobby, replaced elevators, a bike room and resident storage. There is no garage and no fitness center, which is normal for a 51-foot lot and worth naming, because the amenity comparison buyers make on this corridor is usually against much larger buildings.

The arithmetic that matters is the denominator. Read the declaration and budget to establish how the 31 residential and three retail units share doorman, resident-manager, elevator and other expenses. A comparison with a larger tower requires actual budgets, expense allocations and consistently measured apartment areas. Prospective buyers should ask for the current operating budget and reserve position, and should ask specifically about the facade cycle — the building last filed Local Law 11 facade repair work in 2010, and a 1981 masonry building is now well into its recurring inspection and repair rhythm.

Ownership form: Condominium. Purchases close through the standard right-of-first-refusal mechanism rather than a cooperative board approval. Thirty to forty-five days is a typical closing estimate.

Pets: Permitted per listing records. Confirm weight and breed limits in the house rules.

Pied-à-terre, subletting, LLC, trust and foreign ownership: Not documented; confirm in the declaration, bylaws and house rules. Minimum lease terms for subletting should be confirmed with the managing agent.

Minimum down payment: 20 percent per listing records.

In-unit washer/dryer: Permitted; residences are equipped.

Flip tax: Not documented in public records. Confirm any resale capital contribution with the managing agent before pricing a sale.

Real estate taxes: The assessment roll shows no exemption. Check the specific unit's current tax bill for any abatement and underwrite the tax line against it.

Recent sales

Recent closings at this building, from The Roebling Research Library. Prices are the transfer amounts recorded with the NYC Department of Finance; apartment-level detail is checked against the building’s own file in The Roebling Research Library before publishing.

Market read. Most recent trades (2025) cleared a median $1,421/sf (recorded) across 1 sale. Median listing discount 0.5% from the last ask — a recurring negotiation gap worth pricing into any offer or listing strategy.

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-01512-7502; each condominium apartment is its own tax lot). Apartment-level facts (line, condition, asking-price context) curated and cross-verified in The Roebling Research Library. Not all transactions cross-verify with ACRIS records — sponsor and LLC purchases sometimes record at stipulated values rather than market price; square footage from recorded condo declarations and offering plans.

There is no abatement and there never was one on the roll. No 421-a, no J-51, nothing. If you have been shopping abated new construction, use the specific unit’s current tax bill, common charges and assessments for a consistent comparison — and unlike an abated building, there is no scheduled step-up, though taxes, common charges and assessments can still change.

Check expense allocations across residential and retail units. Doorman coverage and a live-in superintendent are costs to examine in the current budget; unit count alone does not establish a higher charge per square foot. Read the operating budget, not the amenity list.

Confirm which residence you are actually buying. Several floors trade as full-floor combinations and several as separate N and S lines. The recorded unit designation and the physical apartment do not always match a listing description; your attorney should tie the unit lot to the floor plan.

Ask about the facade cycle. A 1981 masonry building with a documented Local Law 11 repair program is in a normal but ongoing cost rhythm. Get the current cycle status and any assessment history.

Third Avenue is a working avenue. Bus routes, retail loading and traffic are part of the address. The north and south exposures on the upper floors are the mitigation; test a specific apartment at rush hour.

Lead with the floor plate. Describe the two-apartment-per-floor configuration on the 51-foot lot, including any documented combinations, and compare the actual layouts of competing converted rentals.

Be direct about taxes. Buyers coming from abated inventory will find the tax line themselves. Present it up front alongside the True Monthly Carrying Cost Calculator rather than letting it surface in diligence.

Price against converted rentals, not against new construction. The finish level and amenity program here are those of a 2007 conversion of a 1981 building. The right comparable set reflects that.

Distinguish the building clearly in marketing. More than one Third Avenue address on the Upper East Side carries a similar number, and at least one nearby new-construction building is addressed on both a side street and Third Avenue. Use the full address and the condominium name.

If you're considering 1474 Third Avenue, also evaluate:

• 1250 Third Avenue — full-service cooperative on the same avenue; the co-op alternative with different policy and financing rules
• 1270 Third Avenue — 1987 conversion on the corridor; the nearest peer by conversion pattern
• 1230 Third Avenue (Tower East) — the marquee postwar cooperative on the corridor
• 1218 Third Avenue — cooperative a few blocks south on the avenue
• 167 East 82nd Street (Merritt House) — prewar rental converted to condominium; the nearest converted-condominium comparison
• 55 East 86th Street — rental-to-condominium conversion two blocks north
• Étage (176 East 82nd Street) — nine-residence 2017 ground-up condominium, also addressed 1444 Third Avenue; the new-construction alternative on the corridor
• 126 East 86th Street (ARLOPARC) — 28-residence new-construction condominium; the modern full-amenity alternative at a higher price tier
• 1289 Lexington Avenue (The Hayworth) — 2019 new construction one avenue west