161 East 91st Street

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.

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. Compare actual maintenance, assessments, debt and service arrangements; the absence of a doorman does not establish lower carrying costs. 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.

Recent sales

Recent transfers 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. $/sf is measured on the latest sales with reliable square footage (2022): a median $797/sf (floor-adjusted) across 2 sales. The building has traded as recently as 2026. Median listing discount 0.0% from the last ask.

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-01520-0027). 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 on co-ops is not officially recorded, figures shown are approximate.

The financing framework is documented. 80 percent maximum loan-to-value is set out in the purchase application on file, with case-by-case openness to co-purchase, guarantors, gifting, and pied-à-terre ownership. 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 coming from staffed buildings should compare actual carrying costs and evaluate the service change.

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.

Show the actual comparison. Present matched sales and current carrying costs alongside specific Carnegie Hill alternatives, with adjustments for services, apartment size and condition; no 30–50 percent price differential is established here.

Lead with the board framework. State the 80 percent financing ceiling and case-by-case openness to guarantors, co-purchase, and gifting in the marketing. We document this from the application on file for serious buyers' attorneys.

Compare combined apartments carefully. Present the joined E/F-line unit’s current plan and dimensions, and compare dated sales of similar apartments with adjustments for services and actual carrying costs.

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; compare actual carrying costs
• 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