333 East 91st Street (Azure)

The tower rises from a low-rise brick school base that fronts East 91st Street — planters and benches on 91st, school playgrounds toward 92nd — with the residential entrance and lobby (anchored by an original glass art wall by Weil Studio) operating independently of the school. Above, the building used air rights from four adjacent low-rise parcels to clear its neighbors early; upper-floor lines carry open East River, skyline, and northern views, with balconies on select lines.

The 128 residences skew family-scale — the majority are two bedrooms or larger, which is consistent with the school-anchored thesis. Finishes from the sponsor era run to Afromosia hardwood floors, stone-counter kitchens with Viking and Bosch appliances, and marble primary baths; a substantial share of units have been renovated since. City records carry 110 units against the 128 marketed, the gap reflecting combinations and the "reconfigured apartments" documented in the plan amendments on file.

Full-service condop: 24-hour concierge, valet service, live-in management presence, cold storage, and the amenity floor plus the two roof terraces. The school shares the block but not the building's systems or entrances in any way that affects daily residential life — the practical effect is morning drop-off activity on 91st Street. The offering-plan amendments are on file in The Roebling Research Library; current financial statements, the ground-lease rent schedule, and the maintenance composition (which embeds the tax and ground-rent obligations) should be obtained through the managing agent during diligence.

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 (2026 to date) cleared a median $843/sf (floor-adjusted) across 2 sales. Floor-adjusted means each sale is restated to a constant mix of floors, so the figure can differ from the plain median of the sales listed above. Median listing discount 5.2% from the last ask — a recurring negotiation gap worth pricing into any offer or listing strategy.

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-01554-0023). 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.

Understand the condop before the apartment. You are buying shares in a leasehold cooperative with condo-style by-laws, not a condominium deed. In practice that means lighter board mechanics than a co-op, but your attorney must review the ground lease — term, rent resets, and renewal posture — and your lender must be comfortable with leasehold collateral. Not every bank lends here on the same terms; we maintain a current list of active lenders in the building's tier.

Model the all-in monthly, not the sticker maintenance. Taxes and ground rent flow through the maintenance line under this structure. A headline maintenance figure that looks high against a condo's common charges may net out comparably once the condo's separate tax bill is added — run the True Monthly Carrying Cost Calculator both ways.

Model the lease term and eventual resale. Compare actual purchase prices and carrying obligations with fee-simple alternatives; a leasehold does not guarantee more space per dollar or a fixed resale discount. Assess the remaining lease term and obligations at the contemplated exit date.

The school is a genuine amenity for the right household. East Side Middle School's presence in the development is a differentiator no peer building can replicate. Families should verify current zoning and admissions independently — school assignment is never guaranteed by an address.

Verify the policy stack at offer stage. Sublet terms, purchase structures (LLC, trust, pied-à-terre), and current approval requirements should be confirmed with the managing agent; the condop framework is permissive by co-op standards, but the by-laws govern.

Sell the structure honestly and early. Listing feeds routinely mislabel the building a condominium; the buyer who discovers the leasehold at contract is a buyer you lose. Marketing that explains the condop mechanics, the ECF lease, and the resulting per-foot value up front converts better-qualified buyers.

Anchor to in-building comparables. The land lease makes cross-building per-foot comparisons misleading in both directions. Same-line and same-tier history inside the building — which we maintain in the Research Library — is the defensible anchor.

Lead with what fee-simple peers can't offer. New-construction systems, the amenity and terrace stack, family-scale layouts, and the school: this is the package that justifies the carry to your buyer. Renovated units with documented upgrades clear at visible premiums here.

If you're considering 333 East 91st Street, also evaluate:

• The Kent (200 East 95th Street) — the fee-simple new-condo alternative four blocks north; the direct price-structure comparison
• 360 East 89th Street (Citizen360) — contemporary condo tower two blocks south
• 180 East 88th Street — the corridor's architectural step-up in boutique new-condo form
• 340 East 93rd Street — the established post-war alternative in the same blocks
• 389 East 89th Street — converted Yorkville condo tower; the value-tier fee-simple alternative
• 1 Carnegie Hill (215 East 96th Street) — large amenity-rich condo at the corridor's northern edge
• 300 East 93rd Street (The Waterford) — post-war condop comparison in the immediate area
• The Brittany (1775 York Avenue) — east-of-First building with river proximity; verify tenure and current availability before using it as a purchase comparison