The Black & Whites
541 East 72nd Street, east of York Avenue at the East River, Upper East Side
Lenox Hill, Upper East Side
BBL 1014840024 · BIN 1046267
- Year built
- 1910
- Landmark
- No
- Amenities
- Resident superintendent, handyman, bicycle room, and storage
Every recorded sale at this building, 2003–2026
Price-per-square-foot over time, the line- and floor-premium curves, and every recorded sale.
- Median $/sf
- $979
- Listing discount
- 3.2%
- Recorded sales
- 11
- On record
- 2003–2026
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A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at The Black & Whites 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.
541 East 72nd Street anchors the river end of the Black & Whites, a group of five-story walk-ups distinguished by black-painted brick, white trim and red entrance doors. The cooperative occupies a short cul-de-sac above the East River, with the river-facing end building receiving a different exposure from homes farther west in the row.
The older tenement buildings were reconstructed in 1938. Historical accounts place the cooperative conversion in 1973.
Architecture and unit composition
The painted brick, exterior fire escapes and repeated window openings preserve the scale of the original apartment houses. Streetlamps and planted areas line the approach, which ends at a terrace overlooking the river.
The residences include smaller apartments, larger multi-bedroom homes and combined layouts. Selected homes have wood-burning fireplaces and substantial living rooms. The eastern end's river outlook is a defining exposure; interior and street-facing rooms have different orientations.
At this address, recorded apartment sizes extend from roughly 1,100 square feet to a combined residence of about 4,700 square feet. The cooperative therefore contains substantially different amounts of accommodation behind its repeated exterior bays. Stair access remains part of the upper-floor purchase.
Building operations
The building participates in a wider cooperative covering the four main entries along the row. Its ten-residence component should not be mistaken for a stand-alone ten-owner association. The complex has a resident superintendent and handyman, with bicycle storage, general storage.
The river-end location sits directly above the FDR Drive. The relationship between an apartment's windows, river view and traffic exposure is particularly consequential on this eastern portion of the cooperative.
Policy framework
Pets: Allowed — confirm with the managing agent.
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 | PPSF | vs. Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 5, 2026 | 2 | 5 BR · 6.5 BA · 4,700 sf | $4,600,000 | $979/sf | -12.4% |
| Aug 13, 2019 | 5B | 2 BR · 2 BA | $1,060,000 | -17.8% | |
| Sep 20, 2017 | 1E | 4 BR · 3 BA · 2,091 sf | $2,600,000 | $1,243/sf | +0.0% |
| Jan 30, 2014 | 5B | 2 BR | $862,000 | -3.7% | |
| Dec 1, 2009 | 5A | 2 BR · 1,168 sf | $725,000 | $621/sf | -3.2% |
| Feb 27, 2007 | 5A | 2 BR · 1,168 sf | $795,000 | $681/sf | +0.0% |
| Mar 22, 2004 | 5BF | 2 BR · 1,100 sf | $575,000 | $523/sf | +0.0% |
| Oct 2, 2003 | 5AR | 2 BR · 1,250 sf | $595,000 | $476/sf | off-mkt |
Market read. Most recent trades (2026) cleared a median $979/sf across 1 sale. Median listing discount 3.2% 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.
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 1-01484-0024) 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.
Comparable buildings
- 1376 York Avenue — A nearby low-rise prewar cooperative for buyers considering walk-up-scale ownership.
- 222 East 71st Street — A modest prewar cooperative with a low building profile farther inland.
- 340 East 72nd Street — A taller prewar cooperative on the same street for buyers prioritizing larger apartment-house layouts.
- 1 East End Avenue — A prewar cooperative alternative for buyers focused on the East River side of the neighborhood.
- The Yorkgate — Another prewar cooperative near the river, with a substantially taller building form.
More Upper East Side buildings
- 531 Main Street (Rivercross) — 1975 co-op
- Henderson House (535 East 86th Street) — 1960 co-op
- The Promenade (535 East 75th Street / 530 East 76th Street) — 1987 condominium by Philip Birnbaum & Associates
- 551 Main Street (Island House) — 1975 co-op
- 625 Main Street (Westview) — 1976 co-op
- 605 East 82nd Street — 1953 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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