- Year built
- 1941
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 48
- Floors
- 6
- Landmark
- No
- Amenities
- Central laundry (multi-floor laundry per brokerage records), bike room, private storage
- Pets
- Permitted per listing records; the house rules on file regulate conduct in common areas rather than barring pets
- Financing
- 80 percent maximum loan-to-value, per the purchase application on file
Carnegie Hill's reputation is built on its Park and Madison Avenue co-ops, but the neighborhood's working entry point runs east of Lexington — and 161 East 91st Street is a textbook example of why that entry point is worth taking seriously. This is a 1941 brick-and-terracotta cooperative of 48 apartments on a quiet, tree-lined block: late-pre-war construction quality and proportions, a six-story scale that keeps the shareholder community small, and a location that buys the entire Carnegie Hill apparatus — the 92nd Street Y a block away, the neighborhood's private schools, the Q at 96th and Second and the 4/5/6 at 86th — at a fraction of the avenue pricing two blocks west.
The building's 1941 vintage is itself a structural point. Almost nothing was built in Manhattan between 1942 and 1947; buildings of this final pre-war season carry pre-war bones — defined foyers, real room counts, solid construction — with somewhat more modern plumbing and elevator infrastructure than their 1920s peers. The cooperative converted in 1989 per listing records and has operated since as a self-effacing, conservatively run house: no doorman, video intercom entry, live-in superintendent, and a fee structure modest by Manhattan co-op standards.
What distinguishes this building for our clients is documentation. The Roebling Research Library holds the cooperative's current board purchase application, house rules, and audited financial statements — which means the policy framework stated on this page comes from the building's own paperwork rather than listing-site lore. For a 48-unit non-doorman co-op, that level of verified clarity at offer stage is genuinely rare.
Architecture and unit composition
The building presents a red-brick facade with terracotta trim across a 100-foot frontage, organized around a marquee-covered, white-columned entrance — modest, consistent, and well kept, with sidewalk plantings that match the block's character. There are no terraces, balconies, or roof deck; fire escapes face the street in the manner of its era.
Inside, the roughly 48 apartments run from one-bedrooms through combined units — the E/F lines have been joined in multiple cases to create two- and three-bedroom homes per listing records. Layouts are late-pre-war in character: entry foyers, windowed kitchens and baths, and proportioned rooms that renovate well. With only six stories, light depends on exposure rather than height; the tree-lined block keeps the outlook green in season.
Building operations
This is a self-service cooperative run lean: live-in superintendent, video intercom, central laundry, bike room, and private storage — no doorman, no amenity floor. The trade is structural: maintenance stays low relative to staffed buildings, and the shareholder community absorbs the service layer. The corporation's financial statements and house rules are on file in The Roebling Research Library; the house rules show a board attentive to noise, floor coverage, insurance minimums, and renovation hours — the marks of a building that protects quiet enjoyment.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $1,176/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $2
Recent sales
The retrade record
Lines that have traded more than once in the public record — the building’s appreciation arc, apartment by apartment.
Recent transfers at this building, sourced from NYC Department of Finance records. Apartment-level detail (line, condition, asking-price context) verified upon consultation request.
| Date | Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 28, 2025 | 6C | $1,210,950 |
| Aug 1, 2025 | 4EF | $1,700,000 |
| May 5, 2025 | 6A | $520,000 |
| Nov 4, 2024 | 5B | $525,000 |
| Nov 8, 2023 | 1A | $611,838.95 |
| Jun 26, 2023 | 1G | $592,787.47 |
Full closing history with price-per-square-foot over time, the complete retrade record, and every line that has traded.
Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-01520-0027) and verified listing data. Apartment-level facts (line, condition, asking-price context) curated and cross-verified by The Roebling Team research desk. Not all transactions cross-verify with ACRIS records — sponsor and LLC purchases sometimes record at stipulated values rather than market price.
What to know if you’re buying
The financing framework is unusually permissive. 80 percent maximum loan-to-value, per the purchase application on file, is looser than the 50–75 percent conventions of most Upper East Side co-ops. Combined with case-by-case openness to co-purchase, guarantors, gifting, and pied-à-terre ownership, this is one of the more accessible board frameworks in the neighborhood. Run the Co-op Board Qualification Calculator before offering.
Know the full fee stack going in — we have it. Flip tax of $15 per share, $500 application fee, shared transfer-agent fee, move-in and floor-covering deposits: all documented in the application on file. Your attorney should confirm nothing has changed, but you will not be surprised.
No doorman means no doorman. Packages, deliveries, and access run through the intercom and the superintendent. Buyers trading down from staffed buildings should weigh the carry savings against the service change honestly.
Budget for the 80 percent rule. The house rules require carpeting or equivalent sound-reducing coverage on 80 percent of floors outside kitchens and baths — standard pre-war discipline, but it affects furnishing plans and the floor-covering deposit refund.
Verify subletting before you rely on it. The materials on file do not document a sublet policy. If rental flexibility matters to your plan, confirm terms with the managing agent before contract.
What to know if you’re selling
Sell the neighborhood arithmetic. Your buyer is cross-shopping Carnegie Hill's avenue co-ops and finding them 30–50 percent more expensive per room, with stricter boards. Marketing should state the case plainly: same blocks, same schools, same Y — entry-tier carry.
Lead with the board framework. An 80 percent financing ceiling and case-by-case openness to guarantors, co-purchase, and parents buying widens your buyer pool meaningfully versus neighboring buildings. We document this from the application on file for serious buyers' attorneys.
Combinations are the ceiling-setters. The building's joined E/F-line units have set its upper price marks; if you hold a combined unit, market it against two-bedroom stock in staffed buildings and let the maintenance differential do the arguing.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 161 East 91st Street, also evaluate:
- 131 East 93rd Street — the closest like-for-like: boutique pre-war co-op east of Park in the same micro-market
- 160 East 91st Street — the larger pre-war directly across the street
- 50 East 89th Street — full-service post-war alternative with amenities, at a higher carry
- 60 East 88th Street — Carnegie Hill post-war co-op alternative off Madison
- 180 East 88th Street — the new-development condo alternative in the same blocks
- 17 East 89th Street — the staffed pre-war step-up toward Madison
- 1185 Park Avenue — the famous courtyard co-op; Carnegie Hill's pre-war aspiration two blocks west
- 15 East 91st Street — the trophy end of the same street, for calibration
The Roebling Team at 161 East 91st Street
The Roebling Team at Compass works Carnegie Hill and the Upper East Side as a core practice area. We publish this building profile because 161 East 91st Street buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — a documented policy framework, verified fee stack, and honest comparables — not generic neighborhood commentary.
If you're considering a transaction at 161 East 91st Street, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.