161 Henry Street

Nine stories and a penthouse over a cellar, roughly a hundred feet, Class I fireproof, masonry and steel with foundations mostly on rock and face brick over masonry backup. The lobby carries a marble floor and base under painted plaster; the public stairs are marble on steel stringers with marble winders; the upper halls are ceramic tile landings serving the elevators and stairs. A wooden water tank of 6,000 gallons — 3,500 of it reserved to the standpipe — sits on a steel frame at the roof, alongside two elevator machine penthouses with wired-glass skylights.

The apartment mix runs from four-room, one-bath units through the six eight-room, three-bath A-South apartments on floors four through nine, with two penthouse units at 580 shares each. The 1977 plan noted that certain four-room apartments carried roughly 200 additional square feet, which accounts for share-price differences within nominally identical layouts — a useful thing to know when comparing two four-room units on paper. Two ground-floor spaces served for decades as doctors' offices with direct entrances from Pierrepont Street; the plan gave their tenants a route to convert to 535 shares apiece, and the corporation's current share count is consistent with both having converted; confirm that against the stock ledger.

Landmarks governs the exterior. The co-op's own guidance is explicit that in-wall air conditioners are barred as a façade alteration; window units are permitted, and central air requires board approval before installation.

161 Henry Street Corporation is a shareholder-run cooperative with a seven-member board that meets monthly, designates one of its members as an ombudsman for shareholder disputes, and maintains standing garden and security committees. A resident superintendent works weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., holds keys to every apartment as a condition of shareholding, operates the freight elevator manually for deliveries and moves, and handles smoke and carbon monoxide detector installation as part of regular duties. An exterminator services the building monthly. All shares are allocated to shareholders and the corporation holds none; confirm from the stock ledger whether any holder retains sponsor or unsold-share rights.

Maintenance covers the corporation's mortgage, taxes, insurance, water, sewer and heat, superintendent payroll, professional fees, public-area electricity, and equipment maintenance on boilers, pumps, elevators, and the water tank. Late payment draws a $100 fee after the tenth of the month, escalating by $100 for each additional month unpaid. Shareholders must carry cooperative apartment insurance with at least $500,000 of liability coverage. Moves run Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., against a $500 refundable deposit.

Two building-systems rules are worth flagging because they constrain renovation: garbage disposals are prohibited outright — the corporation's stated reason is that the pipes are too old to take the load — and washer-dryer installation requires board approval and may be denied where plumbing capacity is inadequate. Neither is a blanket ban on in-unit laundry, but neither should be assumed away.

Flip tax: Because the tax is calculated on gain rather than price, two sellers at the same sale price can owe very different amounts depending on what each paid; holding period matters only through the purchase price. Certain share transfers between shareholders may also trigger it.

Right of first refusal: On an accepted offer, the seller must give written notice of the terms to the managing agent and all other shareholders; any shareholder then has ten days to match the price and terms, tender the contract deposit, and sign. Every contract of sale must contain the provision. Build the ten days into the timeline rather than discovering it at contract.

Subletting: Beyond the surcharge, the proposed lessee submits the full purchase-grade package — two years of returns, assets and liabilities, three personal and two business references, the lease — and sits for a board interview, with a $250 application fee plus credit and background costs regardless of outcome. The shareholder remains liable for maintenance, assessments, and repairs throughout.

Smoking: Prohibited in all common areas — lobby, hallways, basement, storage rooms, laundry room, courtyard, and garden.

Alterations: Written board and managing-agent approval for major work, licensed and insured contractors naming the corporation and agent as additional insureds, an alteration agreement, and engineer or architect review at the shareholder's expense where structural work is involved. The corporation reserves the right to make its own infrastructure repairs while walls are open.

Purchase package: Eight copies, two years of federal returns, income verification, statement of assets and liabilities with supporting statements, three personal and two business references, contract of sale, mortgage application and commitment; background and credit checks; $250 application fee.

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. Most recent trades (2024) cleared a median $1,296/sf (recorded) across 2 sales. Median listing discount 0.0% from the last ask.

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 3-00237-0008). 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 eight-room apartments are the reason to be here. Floors four through nine on the A-South line carry eight rooms and three baths at 800 to 850 shares. Compare the actual room count, dimensions, floor and condition with identified Heights apartments.

The records show a major capital program. A roughly $2.0 million exterior and window program is recorded from 2005 to 2012 — repointing, mansard roof, medallions, new windows throughout, entrance, gardens. Confirm its completion, what has been done since, and current condition from recent engineering reports and board materials.

Two rules will shape your renovation. Garbage disposals are prohibited; washer-dryer installation needs board approval and can be refused on plumbing capacity. Ask about your specific stack before you plan a kitchen.

Check the electrical service in your line. The sponsor's 1977 offer to increase amperage and replace fuses with circuit breakers was withdrawn in exchange for a larger reserve fund. Have your inspector look at the panel and riser capacity.

Plan around the right of first refusal. Ten days for existing shareholders to match, on every deal. Confirm notice, response and waiver procedures with counsel and include the contractual ten-day response period in scheduling; no frequency of exercise is established here.

Model the flip tax on gain, not price. At the greater of $500 or 1.5 percent of gross profit, the fee depends on your actual purchase price and any adjustments the current governing documents allow, not on how long you have owned. Confirm the formula with the managing agent and run the number before you set an asking price.

Lead with the architecture and the citation. Schneider & Herter, Beaux-Arts, mansard and limestone brackets, and a named appearance in the AIA Guide to New York City. Use those documented architectural details without asserting a neighborhood-wide ranking.

Present the capital program with its records. Buyers underwrite assessment risk. Document the $2.0 million exterior and window program — completion, sign-offs and work since — rather than presenting it as the answer on its own.

Position against the district's small prewars, not the full-service towers. The correct comparison set is the thirty- to forty-unit prewar co-ops of central Brooklyn Heights, where 161 Henry's apartment sizes and building condition both stand out.

If you're considering 161 Henry Street, also evaluate:

• 160 Henry Street — prewar elevator co-op directly across Henry Street, running the blockfront from Pierrepont to Love Lane
• 187 Hicks Street (Florence Court) — the 1900 apartment hotel at the other end of the same block cluster; the closest peer in vintage and ambition
• 153 Henry Street — prewar co-op peer on the same Henry Street corridor
• 9 College Place (Love Lane Mews) — condominium alternative on the interior lanes behind Henry Street
• 145 Hicks Street — larger Heights co-op one block west, between Clark and Pierrepont
• 35 Pierrepont Street — prewar co-op on the same Pierrepont Street corridor, closer to the Promenade
• 100 Remsen Street — cooperative in the Remsen–Montague blocks; compare its construction date and scale separately
• 1 Pierrepont Street — co-op at the Promenade end of Pierrepont, for buyers weighing view and quiet against central location