- Year built
- 1980
- Type
- Cooperative
Every recorded sale at this building, 2003–2025
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- Listing discount
- 5.5%
- Recorded transfers
- 38
170 East 88th Street is an unusual building, and a genuinely charming one. Built in 1980 on a Carnegie Hill block between Lexington and Third, it was conceived not as a conventional apartment house but as a low-rise cooperative wrapped around a landscaped garden, with many of its 39 homes laid out as loft duplexes — double-height living spaces with exposed brick, big windows, wood-burning fireplaces, and private balconies looking onto the courtyard. The result reads more like a tucked-away mews than a standard Upper East Side co-op.
That distinctiveness is the building's value. Within a neighborhood of pre-war and white-brick towers, 170 East 88th offers loft-style volume, fireplaces, and outdoor space at a co-op price — four blocks from Central Park and the Museum Mile, with the 4/5/6 at 86th Street and the Second Avenue subway both close. Buyers who want character and light rather than a doorman lobby gravitate here.
Architecture and unit composition
The building is a product of its moment: a 1980 low-rise designed around a shared garden rather than maximizing height, an approach that gave the architects room to create the duplex volumes the building is known for. At five stories it keeps a townhouse-district scale on a block of larger neighbors.
The 39 residences run from one- to two-bedroom homes, with the signature loft duplexes the most sought-after layouts: soaring ceilings, exposed brick, abundant glass, wood-burning fireplaces, and balconies overlooking the landscaped garden. These are not standard-issue boxes — the cross-section and the light are the reason people buy here, and renovated duplexes command the building's top pricing.
Building operations
170 East 88th is a non-doorman cooperative staffed by a live-in resident manager, with a central laundry room and package room and the landscaped garden at its center. The absence of a doorman keeps carrying costs in check; the garden and the duplex layouts are the amenities that matter.
The board's terms are accommodating for the Upper East Side: financing is permitted up to 75% of the purchase price, the flip tax is 1.5%, and the building is pet-friendly. Subletting is considered on a case-by-case basis rather than freely permitted — a posture aimed at keeping the building owner-occupied while leaving room for shareholders' changing circumstances.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $941/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $2
Facade safety — Local Law 11
The facade passed its last inspection with no required repairs — nothing to budget for here, and no facade assessment on the horizon for roughly five years.
QEWI = Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector — the licensed engineer the city requires to sign the report (the independent expert, not the managing agent). Source: NYC DOB facade filings (FISP) · The Roebling Research Library.
See the full facade history →Recent sales
Recent transfers at this building, curated by The Roebling Team research desk. Apartment-level facts are independently verified before publishing; sale prices reflect the recorded transfer amount at the NYC Department of Finance.
| Date | Unit | Apartment | Price | PPSF | vs. Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 25, 2025 | 4H | 2 BR · 1.5 BA · 1,050 sf | $995,000 | $948/sf | -0.5% |
| Jul 11, 2022 | PHA | 1 BR · 2 BA · 900 sf | $1,225,000 | $1,361/sf | -5.4% |
| Jun 21, 2022 | 6G | 2 BR · 2.5 BA · 1,400 sf | $1,550,000 | $1,107/sf | off-mkt |
| Mar 8, 2022 | 4D | 1 BR | $899,000 | +9.0% | |
| Sep 22, 2020 | 6A | 1 BR · 1 BA | $850,000 | -5.5% | |
| Feb 18, 2020 | 1H | 1 BR · 2 BA · 960 sf | $741,200 | $772/sf | -12.7% |
| Oct 18, 2018 | 8D | 1 BR | $690,000 | -13.6% | |
| Aug 1, 2017 | 4D | 1 BR · 1 BA | $875,000 | +6.1% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2025) cleared a median $948/sf across 1 sale. Median listing discount 5.0% from the last ask — a recurring negotiation gap worth pricing into any offer or listing strategy.
The retrade record
Lines that have traded more than once in the public record — the building’s appreciation arc, apartment by apartment.
Other recent transfers
| Date | Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 28, 2022 | PH8A | $1,225,000 |
| Feb 24, 2022 | PHF | $1,100,000 |
| Jan 21, 2021 | 6A | $850,000 |
| Jun 22, 2016 | 2D | $800,000 |
| Oct 9, 2013 | 4D | $599,000 |
| Apr 9, 2009 | 8G | $950,000 |
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 1-01516-0042) 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; square footage on co-ops is not officially recorded, figures shown are approximate.
What to know if you’re buying
Know which product you are buying. The loft duplexes — with their double-height living rooms, fireplaces, and garden balconies — are the building's draw and trade at a premium; the simplex units are a more conventional, more affordable entry. Either way this is a co-op purchase: expect a board package and interview, and note the case-by-case sublet policy if your horizon is uncertain.
The terms favor buyers (75% financing, a modest 1.5% flip tax, pets welcome). The lifestyle is the rest of the case: a quiet block four blocks from Central Park and the Museum Mile, the express 4/5/6 and the Q at 86th Street within a couple of blocks, and Carnegie Hill's cafés, markets, and restaurants all around. For character at a non-doorman price, the building is hard to match.
What to know if you’re selling
The loft duplexes sell themselves — lead with the volume, the wood-burning fireplace, the exposed brick, and the garden balcony, because nothing else in the immediate market offers that combination at this price. Renovations that preserve and showcase the double-height space pay off; ones that fight it do not.
Price to the building's own duplex-versus-simplex history rather than to the broader Carnegie Hill co-op average, since the two product types trade differently. With few annual sales, accurate day-one positioning is essential. We bring the building's transaction history and the live comparable set to every listing.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 170 East 88th Street, these nearby Upper East Side cooperatives form the natural comparison set:
- 180 East 88th Street — Carnegie Hill building on the same block
- 230 East 88th Street — Yorkville-edge co-op nearby
- 19 East 88th Street — pre-war Carnegie Hill cooperative
- 60 East 88th Street — pre-war co-op near Central Park
- 439 East 88th Street — Yorkville cooperative to the east
The Roebling Team at 170 East 88th Street
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in the Upper East Side, Carnegie Hill, Yorkville, and the broader park-facing Manhattan market. We publish this profile because buyers and sellers in a building this distinctive deserve building-specific intelligence — how the loft duplexes price against the simplex units, the real board terms, and where the building sits against the surrounding co-op stock.
If you're considering a purchase or sale at 170 East 88th, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.
Get the full picture on this building.
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