51 East 78th Street
51 East 78th Street, New York, NY 10075
BBL 1013930027 · BIN 1041871
- Year built
- 1893
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 21
- Floors
- 5
- Landmark
- In a historic district
- Pets
- No pets; building is smoke-free — confirm at offer stage
- Subletting
- Permitted after an initial ownership period; specific terms set by the board — confirm at offer stage
Every recorded sale at this building, 2003–2026
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 2BR median
- $1.2M
- Recent range
- $440K – $1.6M
- Listing discount
- 1.1%
- Recorded transfers
- 17
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at 51 East 78th 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.
51 East 78th Street is a boutique pre-war cooperative on one of the Upper East Side's most desirable side streets — the block of East 78th between Madison and Park. Five stories tall and low-rise in scale, the building holds roughly two decades of the neighborhood's residential history: a late-nineteenth-century elevator building, converted over time into a small cooperative of individually owned apartments. It is the kind of address that trades on quiet: no tower, no marketing name in wide circulation, just a well-located, small-scale co-op on a prime block.
For buyers, the appeal is scale and location. This is a genuinely small building — 21 apartments of record, currently closer to 18 after combinations — on a block that sits between Madison Avenue's retail and gallery corridor and the residential dignity of Park Avenue. The absence of a doorman and heavy amenity load keeps carrying costs restrained relative to full-service buildings, and the boutique format appeals to buyers who want a pre-war home on a top block without the price or formality of a large white-glove cooperative.
Building operations
51 East 78th Street operates as a self-service boutique cooperative: an elevator building with common laundry, a bike room, and intercom entry, staffed by a superintendent rather than a doorman. The lighter service model keeps monthly maintenance more restrained than in full-service buildings — a deliberate trade-off for buyers who prioritize location and scale over amenities. Public sources indicate the building is not pet-friendly and is smoke-free; both policies should be confirmed against current house rules at offer stage.
As a cooperative, ownership means owning shares in the corporation and a proprietary lease rather than a deeded unit. Purchases require a board application and interview, financing is subject to a board-set maximum, and buyers should review the co-op's financial statements and reserve position during due diligence. Pied-à-terre use is considered case by case, subject to board approval; subletting is generally permitted after an initial ownership period on terms the board sets. Confirm the financing cap, any flip tax, and the exact sublet policy at offer stage.
Architecture and residences
Public records point to a construction date in the early 1890s, consistent with the building's five-story, elevator-flats typology — a late-nineteenth-century "French flats" building of the sort that populated the Upper East Side as it developed northward. Some records list a later date, and one description characterizes the building as Georgian in style; the earlier pre-war date is the better-supported reading, and the architect is not documented in public records. Inside, listings cite generous ceiling heights and oversized windows, and the layouts reflect the building's evolution: two to four apartments per floor originally, with several combinations over the years producing larger, reconfigured homes. That variation makes apartment-specific evaluation essential — the building's units are not uniform.
The block and Lenox Hill
The block of East 78th Street between Madison and Park is quintessential Upper East Side: low-scale, tree-lined, and flanked by townhouses and boutique pre-war buildings. Madison Avenue's shops, galleries, and restaurants are a few steps west; Central Park is a short walk; and the 6 train at 77th Street is close at hand. The building's block sits in a notable gap between two designated historic districts — the Metropolitan Museum Historic District covers the Fifth-to-Madison mid-blocks to the west, and the Upper East Side Historic District extends up Madison to 77th Street just to the south — so buyers should confirm the building's precise landmark status against current LPC mapping at offer stage rather than assuming district protection.
Local Law 97
This building is below the 25,000 sq ft threshold at which LL97 emissions caps apply. No regulatory capital pressure from this law specifically, current or 2030.
See full Local Law 97 analysis →Recent sales
Cooperative apartments here are read on a per-room basis, the appropriate metric for co-op pricing. Pricing spans a wide range, from studios to combined two-bedrooms, with per-room values varying by layout, floor, and condition. Because the building is small and combinations have reduced the effective apartment count, resale inventory is thin and any single trade carries real weight in the comparable set. The building has historically required a minimum down payment in the neighborhood of 25%; confirm current financing terms with the board. Underwriting should be per-unit and room-count-specific rather than building-averaged.
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.
| Date | Unit | Apartment | Price | PPSF | vs. Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 30, 2026 | 1D | 1 BA | $440,000 | -2.2% | |
| Mar 4, 2026 | 3BC | 2 BR · 2 BA | $1,578,000 | +5.2% | |
| Jun 26, 2024 | 4D | 1 BR · 1 BA | $785,000 | +0.0% | |
| May 11, 2023 | 1C | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,150 sf | $900,000 | $783/sf | -21.7% |
| Oct 14, 2021 | 4D | 1 BR · 1 BA | $749,000 | +0.0% | |
| Jan 24, 2020 | 3AD | 2 BR · 2 BA | $1,350,000 | -19.6% | |
| Feb 13, 2018 | 1A | 1 BR | $599,000 | +0.0% | |
| Apr 2, 2013 | 5C | 1 BR | $725,000 | -3.3% |
Market read. $/sf is measured on the latest sales with reliable square footage (2023): a median $783/sf (recorded) across 1 sale. The building has traded as recently as 2026. Median listing discount 1.3% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Feb 1, 2006 | 3A | $260,000 |
| Jun 18, 2003 | 5C | $399,000 |
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 1-01393-0027). 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.
Buying here? Co-op closing costs typically run 2 to 3% of the price. See NYC co-op and condo closing costs, line by line.
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What to know if you’re buying
Buying here is a cooperative path: a board package and interview, a board-set financing maximum, and a careful review of the co-op's financials and reserves. The reasons to buy are location and scale — a boutique pre-war building on a prime Madison-to-Park block, with restrained carrying costs relative to full-service buildings and the quiet character that a small self-service co-op provides. Underwrite the specific apartment carefully; combinations and pre-war variation mean layouts differ meaningfully. Confirm the down-payment requirement, sublet and pied-à-terre policies, pet and smoking rules, and the building's financial position during due diligence.
What to know if you’re selling
The story is a boutique pre-war co-op on one of the Upper East Side's best side streets — scarcity, location, and restrained carrying costs. Pricing should be room-count-specific and anchored to recent comparables on the relevant apartment type, with combined units underwritten separately from single-line apartments. Positioning should lead with the block (Madison to Park), the building's low-rise pre-war character, and the value proposition of a well-located home without full-service overhead. Buyer qualification matters: the board's financing and financial requirements shape the realistic buyer pool, and pricing should reflect that.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 51 East 78th Street, also look at these Upper East Side boutique buildings:
- 150 East 78th Street — nearby East 78th Street building serving an overlapping buyer pool
- 167 East 78th Street — boutique East 78th Street building, comparable scale and block context
- 170 East 78th Street — adjacent East 78th Street building with a similar residential character
- 188 East 78th Street — nearby boutique building on the same street
- 205 East 78th Street — East 78th Street comparable for scale and location
- 3 East 71st Street — boutique Upper East Side building serving a similar buyer profile
More Upper East Side buildings
- 50 East 72nd Street — 1928 condominium
- 50 East 79th Street — 1958 co-op
- 50 East 89th Street (Park Regis) — 1974 co-op by Emery Roth & Sons
- 51 East 90th Street — 1926 co-op by George F. Pelham
- 52 East 72nd Street (Claremont House) — 1986 condominium
- 52 East 78th Street & 61 East 77th Street — 1916 co-op
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, transit, and pricing across Upper East Side — read The Roebling Team Guide to Upper East 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.
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