164 West 79th Street
164 West 79th Street, New York, NY 10024
Upper West Side
BBL 1011500056 · BIN 1030265
- Year built
- 1924
- Type
- Cooperative
- Landmark
- No
Every recorded sale at this building, 2003–2026
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 2BR median
- $1.6M
- Recent range
- $750K – $2.9M
- Listing discount
- 3.9%
- Recorded transfers
- 60
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at 164 West 79th Street would likely sell for today, what it costs to sell, and what you’d walk away with — reviewed personally against condition, exposures, renovation quality, and the competition actually on the market.
164 West 79th Street is a 1924 Italian Renaissance cooperative on one of the Upper West Side's best blocks — a coveted stretch of West 79th Street within easy reach of the American Museum of Natural History and Central Park. Designed by George F. Pelham, one of the era's most productive apartment-house architects, it is a handsome, well-proportioned pre-war building that pairs serious architecture with the practical amenity set families actually use: a planted roof deck, a private garden, and a children's playroom among them.
The block is the draw. Living here puts the Museum of Natural History and the southern edge of the Upper West Side's cultural core within a short walk, with Central Park a couple of blocks east and Riverside Park to the west. The 1 train stops a block away at 79th Street, and the B and C express-adjacent service runs at 81st Street by the museum; Broadway, Amsterdam, and Columbus deliver a dense run of restaurants, markets, and shops within two blocks in every direction.
At 60 residences across fifteen stories, the building is mid-sized — large enough to carry a full reserve and a real amenity package, intimate enough to feel like a community. The apartments are mostly two- and three-bedroom layouts, several of them combined over the years into larger family homes, which gives the building genuine appeal to households trading up within the neighborhood.
Architecture and unit composition
George F. Pelham worked across the full range of New York's pre-war apartment market, and 164 West 79th Street is one of his more polished West Side efforts: an Italian Renaissance palazzo in brick and terra cotta over a limestone base, anchored by a canopied, step-up entrance flanked by two-story-high pilasters and lanterns. Sidewalk landscaping softens the approach, and the elevations remain crisp and well maintained a century on.
The interiors deliver the pre-war fundamentals — high ceilings, hardwood floors, separated rooms, and gracious foyers — across predominantly two- and three-bedroom homes. Because a number of apartments have been combined, the building offers a wider range of larger layouts than its unit count alone suggests, which is part of what keeps demand from neighborhood families steady. Renovation levels vary from preserved original homes to fully modernized interiors.
Building operations
164 West 79th Street runs as a full-service-minded cooperative with a part-time doorman (attended through the evening hours) and a resident superintendent. The amenity package is unusually deep for a building of its size: a planted and furnished roof deck with open city views, a lush private garden with a barbecue, a children's playroom, a central laundry room, and bicycle and basement storage. It is a practical, family-oriented package rather than a luxury-tower spread, and it is exactly what this buyer pool values.
As a cooperative, purchases require board approval, a documented financial and personal package, and an in-person interview. Monthly maintenance covers the building's underlying mortgage, real-estate taxes, staff, heat, and reserves. The board operates in the manner typical of an established West Side family co-op — primary-residence orientation, customary financing limits, and a sublet policy structured to keep the building owner-occupied. We help buyers review the current financing cap, sublet terms, pet policy, and any flip tax before they commit.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $23,512/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $33
Source: NYC LL84 benchmarking and PLUTO · The Roebling Research Library. City record last verified September 2026.
See full Local Law 97 analysis — emissions history, scenarios, methodology →Facade safety — Local Law 11
The latest available FISP filing classified the facade as Safe — no repairs were required at that inspection. Facade inspections run on a fixed five-year cycle; future inspection, repair, and any assessment decisions remain building-specific.
How to read this, and where it comes from
QEWI = Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector — the licensed engineer the city requires to sign the report (the independent expert, not the managing agent).
Penalties shown are amounts DOB assessed against filings on record across 2005–10 to 2020–25. The FISP dataset does not record whether they were paid, contested or remain open, so treat the figure as history rather than a current balance and confirm the building’s standing with the managing agent.
Source: NYC DOB facade filings (FISP) · The Roebling Research Library. City record last verified September 2026.
Management & transfer contacts
- Flip tax
- 0.75% of purchase price (Buyer)
- Sublet policy
- Allowed; sublease fee 20% of annual maintenance
- Pied-à-terre
- Case by case
- Notable fees
- Processing $700 (sale); Closing $850 ($1,100 mail/remote); Credit $125/applicant; Move-in/out deposit $1,000 each; Alteration deposit $2,000 or 3% of project cost; Max financing 75%
Recent sales
Recent transfers at this building, curated by The Roebling Team research desk. 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.
| Date | Unit | Apartment | Price | vs. Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 9, 2026 | 10C | 3 BR · 3 BA | $2,470,000 | -1.0% |
| Dec 29, 2025 | 4AB | 3 BR · 3 BA | $1,700,000 | -27.7% |
| Jul 23, 2025 | 15A | 2 BR · 1.5 BA | $1,625,000 | +1.9% |
| Jul 1, 2025 | 14C | 3 BR | $2,895,000 | +3.6% |
| May 29, 2025 | 3D | 2 BR · 2.5 BA | $2,200,000 | -11.8% |
| Aug 22, 2024 | 1D | 2 BR · 2 BA | $750,000 | +0.0% |
| Feb 5, 2024 | 4C | 3 BR · 2 BA | $1,685,000 | -6.1% |
| Sep 6, 2023 | 6A | 2 BR · 1.5 BA | $1,325,000 | -3.9% |
Market read. $/sf is measured on the latest sales with reliable square footage (2021): a median $1,329/sf across 1 sale. The building has traded as recently as 2026. Median listing discount 0.0% from the last ask.
The retrade record
Lines that have traded more than once in the public record — the building’s appreciation arc, apartment by apartment.
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 1-01150-0056) 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 case here is strong for a family buyer: a real pre-war co-op with a roof deck, garden, and playroom, on a top West 79th Street block near the museum and the park. Plan for the co-op fundamentals — board approval, a full package, an interview, and maintenance that reflects the building's staffing and amenities. Note that doorman coverage is part-time rather than around the clock; for many buyers that is a fair trade for the amenity set and the block. Confirm the financing limit, sublet terms, and any flip tax as part of your offer strategy, and look hard at the combined layouts if you need genuine family space.
What to know if you’re selling
A sale here leads with the block, the amenities, and the Pelham architecture. The Museum of Natural History location, the roof deck, the private garden, and the playroom are concrete, family-oriented selling points that distinguish this building from the more anonymous pre-war stock nearby. Renovated and combined homes should be benchmarked against the best Upper West Side family co-ops; smaller and unrenovated homes priced honestly against their nearest comparables. A clean board package and disciplined pricing move apartments fastest in this building; we manage both and position the listing against the right set.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 164 West 79th Street, also evaluate these nearby Upper West Side cooperatives:
- 127 West 79th Street — full-service pre-war cooperative on the same block
- 145 West 79th Street — West 79th Street pre-war co-op nearby
- 255 West 90th Street — The Cornwall, an ornate Broadway-corner cooperative
- 35 West 90th Street — pre-war co-op near Central Park
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across Upper West Side — read The Roebling Team Guide to Upper West Side.
The full playbook — what goes in the package, how boards read your financials, the interview, and the timeline — plus sample cover, reference, and personal letters you can adapt.
How to read the facts on this page. Items attributed to an offering plan describe the building as it was offered at that filing — unit mix, square footage, the amenity program as planned. They are not a statement about how the building operates today. Tax and compliance figures are sourced separately to current City records and carry their own dates. House rules, staffing and fee policy can change by board resolution without any public filing: treat every policy line here as a starting point for diligence and confirm it with the managing agent. Where this page compares one building or neighborhood to another, that is our analysis of the recorded record — it names the measure, the period and the sample it rests on, and it is an observation about medians rather than a prediction about any particular apartment.
Considering a move at 164 West 79th Street?
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