55 East 86th Street
55 East 86th Street, New York, NY 10028
Carnegie Hill, Upper East Side
BBL 1014987501 · BIN 1046862
- Year built
- 1924
- Type
- Condominium
- Units
- 46
- Floors
- 16
- Landmark
- No
- Pets
- Permitted upon approval per management-sourced records
Every recorded sale at this building, 2004–2022
Price-per-square-foot over time, the line- and floor-premium curves, and every recorded sale.
- Median $/sf
- $1,882
- Listing discount
- 2.9%
- Recorded sales
- 33
- On record
- 2004–2022
Prewar condominiums barely exist on the Upper East Side. The neighborhood's 1920s apartment houses were built as rentals, and when they left rental status in the 1970s and 1980s they almost universally became cooperatives — the conversion vehicle sponsors preferred and lenders understood. 55 East 86th Street took the other road. In 1984 the building's sponsor recorded a condominium declaration rather than a cooperative offering, and forty-two years later the result is a 1924 masonry apartment house that a buyer can purchase in an LLC, sublet on day one, finance to whatever level a lender will support, and sell without a board interview.
That combination is the building's entire thesis, and it is worth stating plainly, because it is what the pricing reflects. A prewar apartment on a Carnegie Hill side street ordinarily comes with a board package, a financing ceiling, a post-closing liquidity test, a sublet seasoning period and a flip tax. Here none of those apply. The trade-off is the one every condominium buyer makes: the same permissiveness that lets an owner sublet immediately also lets the neighbors do it, and a building with no residency screening has a more transient character than the co-ops on either side of it.
The architecture is the ordinary excellence of the period. Brown brick rises from a two-story limestone base with carved surrounds; the third story carries pilasters and pediments; the top floor pairs its windows under arched elements beneath a cornice set over a course of rosettes. What sets the building apart from its block is a small act of care on the east wall: where the elevation is exposed above the lower building next door, the top-floor ornament is continued in flattened, two-dimensional masonry rather than being left blank. Prewar side walls in Manhattan are almost never treated. The base, meanwhile, is commercial and always has been — about 5,300 square feet at the ground floor and cellar held as five separate professional and office condominium units, with a twenty-year Department of Buildings record of medical and professional suite fit-outs behind them.
The site's landmark position is the other thing to get right. Carnegie Hill's historic districts are famously permeable at their southern edge, and the boundary here does not run where most buyers assume. The Expanded Carnegie Hill Historic District reaches this tax block but stops several lots to the west; the Park Avenue Historic District begins again at the avenue. This building sits in the gap. Owners here can replace windows and repair the façade without an LPC filing — a material difference in cost and timeline from the co-ops a hundred feet in either direction.
Architecture and unit composition
The building occupies a mid-block interior lot of roughly 11,000 square feet with about 86,000 square feet of built area, of which roughly 81,000 is residential. At a built floor area ratio near 7.8 against an R10 residential maximum of 10.0, the property is not built out — but as a fully tenanted prewar apartment house on an interior lot, the unused capacity is theoretical.
Residences run across A, B, C and D lines on the typical plates, in the proportions the period produced: entry foyers, separated living and dining rooms, and bedrooms off a private hall. Ceiling heights and window sizes are prewar rather than new-development. Combinations have occurred but have not been systematic — the Department of Buildings record shows a 2C/2D combination in 2011 and a 7AC combination in 2015, and the unit-lot count still stands at the original 46, meaning the combinations were done without merging tax lots. Buyers should read a specific unit's tax lot and square footage from the ACRIS schedule rather than from a floor plan.
The east elevation deserves a second look in person. Because the adjoining building to the east is low, the upper floors on that side gain light and outlook that an interior mid-block lot normally does not offer. That building is developable in principle, and the light is not protected. Anyone buying an east-facing line should understand precisely which windows are lot-line windows.
Building operations
The building runs as a full-service condominium: doorman coverage with 24-hour security, a live-in resident manager, a fitness center, a children's playroom, a central laundry room, bike storage, and basement storage. Roof access with outdoor seating and an interior courtyard round out the common space, and some residences carry private terraces. Utilities are separately metered, which matters when comparing monthly carry against buildings that bundle them.
The capital record on file with the Department of Buildings is the record of a well-maintained prewar building rather than a deferred one. Façade pointing and repairs were carried out in 2006 under a sidewalk shed; the main roof and penthouse roof were replaced in 2007; windows were replaced in 2009 specifically to address water penetration; the building replaced two boilers and its chimney in 2013 alongside a further round of façade repairs under shed and pipe scaffold; and scaffold went up again in 2017. That is a building that has been cycling through its envelope on schedule. As always, ask for the current budget, the reserve position, and the status of the current Local Law 11 cycle before contract.
Policy framework
Ownership form: Condominium. Transfers close through the board's right of first refusal rather than a cooperative approval, and closing timelines of 30 to 45 days are typical.
Pets: Permitted upon approval per management-sourced records. Confirm weight and breed limits in the house rules.
Subletting: Permitted immediately, with no seasoning period, per management-sourced records. A sublet fee equal to three months' common charges applies on the owner side.
Pied-à-terre, LLC, trust and foreign ownership: Permitted under the standard condominium framework.
Guarantors, co-purchase and gifted funds: Allowed, including parents purchasing for an employed or student child.
In-unit washer/dryer: Permitted.
Flip tax: None documented. The transaction fee schedule is administrative — application, credit report, closing administrative, and move-in/move-out fees with refundable deposits. Confirm current amounts with the managing agent.
Processing: Management-sourced records ask for a minimum of fourteen days from a complete submission to board review. Build that into the contract timeline.
Real estate taxes: No abatement or exemption of any kind applies at the building level. Underwrite the current bill on the specific unit and run True Monthly Carrying Cost analysis against it.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $8,009/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $15
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 filing classified the facade as SWARMP — Safe With A Repair and Maintenance Program: the engineer identified conditions requiring monitoring or repair before the next inspection cycle. The scope, timeline, and how the building funds the work are building-specific — we review the filings and board materials for you.
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).
Source: NYC DOB facade filings (FISP) · The Roebling Research Library. City record last verified September 2026.
Recent sales
The building trades as one of the few genuine prewar condominium options in Carnegie Hill, and pricing reflects that scarcity rather than the finish level of any individual apartment. Recent activity has centered in the low-to-mid three-million-dollar range for the larger prewar layouts, with the smaller lines trading well below that. On a dollars-per-square-foot basis the building prices above the surrounding prewar cooperative stock and below the new-construction condominiums that have arrived on East 86th Street in the last decade.
The correct comparable set is narrow. Prewar co-ops on the same blocks match on layout and vintage but carry an entirely different policy and financing framework, which shows up as a price gap that has nothing to do with the apartments; nearby new construction matches on tenure but not on scale, ceiling heights or carry. With 46 residences across four lines, a building average tells a buyer very little — underwrite line by line and floor by floor, and index any market statement to the last complete year. Unit-level transaction history is maintained in The Roebling Research Library and shared with clients during diligence.
Recent closings 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 12, 2022 | 2C2D | 3 BR · 3 BA · 1,740 sf | $2,570,000 | $1,477/sf | -19.6% |
| Jun 17, 2022 | 12B | 4 BR · 3 BA · 2,006 sf | $4,750,000 | $2,368/sf | -9.5% |
| May 27, 2022 | 9B | 4 BR · 3 BA · 2,200 sf | $3,650,000 | $1,659/sf | -26.3% |
| Jun 30, 2014 | 15C | 3 BR · 1,643 sf | $3,500,000 | $2,130/sf | -6.7% |
| May 22, 2014 | 3C | 2 BR · 1,000 sf | $1,462,500 | $1,463/sf | +1.6% |
| Apr 23, 2013 | 4C | 2 BR · 995 sf | $1,150,000 | $1,156/sf | off-mkt |
| Oct 11, 2012 | 12B | 3 BR · 3 BA · 2,200 sf | $4,700,000 | $2,136/sf | -5.9% |
| Aug 24, 2011 | 12B | 3 BR · 2,200 sf | $4,647,500 | $2,113/sf | -3.1% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2022) cleared a median $1,882/sf across 2 sales. Median listing discount 2.9% 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 1-01498-7501) 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 from recorded condo declarations and offering plans.
What to know if you’re buying
You are buying condominium rules in a prewar building, and that is the premium. Sublet immediately, purchase in an entity, finance to the lender's limit, sell to a buyer who never meets a board. Very little prewar Upper East Side inventory offers that. Price the flexibility deliberately — do not assume it comes free.
Underwrite full unabated taxes. There is no 421-a, no J-51, and no 485-x here. The trivial exemption value on the property belongs to individual owners, not to the building.
The landmark position is a real advantage — verify it for yourself. The lot is outside both the Expanded Carnegie Hill and Park Avenue historic districts. Window replacement, façade work and rooftop changes proceed without LPC review. That is a cost and calendar difference from the neighbors, and it should factor into any renovation budget.
Check whether your apartment is a combination. Two recorded combinations were done without merging tax lots. Confirm the unit's tax lot, its assessed value and its common-charge percentage against the ACRIS schedule, not against a marketing floor plan.
Understand the commercial base and the east lot line. Five professional and office condominium units occupy the ground floor and cellar — walk the entrance sequence on a weekday mid-morning. And on the east-facing upper floors, which gain light over a lower neighbor, establish which windows are lot-line windows and what the adjoining lot could support.
86th Street is a working crosstown street. The 4, 5 and 6 at Lexington and the Q at Second are close, and so are the buses, the retail loading and the traffic. Visit at rush hour.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with the tenure, not the finishes. A 1924 building that trades as a condominium is the headline. Buyers coming from co-op searches who have been turned down, or who cannot present two years of post-closing liquidity, or who need to buy in a trust, are your market — and they are looking for exactly this.
Say the sublet policy out loud. Immediate subletting with no seasoning period is unusual even among condominiums and is worth a line in the marketing. Investor-minded buyers price it.
Do not comp against the block's co-ops. The prewar cooperatives on East 86th and the Park Avenue side streets look like the right comparables and are not: their pricing embeds a board, a financing ceiling and a flip tax. Comp against the small prewar condominium set and against new-construction condominium inventory, and explain the difference to the appraiser.
Present the capital record. Roof 2007, windows 2009, boilers 2013, façade cycles in 2006 and 2013. A buyer's attorney will find it; leading with it is better.
Flag the landmark status affirmatively. Renovation-minded buyers assume Carnegie Hill means LPC review. Showing that this lot sits outside the districts removes a real objection.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 55 East 86th Street, also evaluate:
- 108 East 86th Street — 1924 building converted from rental, one avenue block east; the closest match on vintage and scale, structured as a cooperative
- 115 East 86th Street — 1928 building converted to cooperative in 1982; the same conversion era with the other tenure outcome
- 120 East 86th Street — 16-residence prewar cooperative; the boutique alternative with a very different policy framework
- 49 East 86th Street — 1930 Art Deco building converted from rental in 1967; the immediate neighbor to the west on the same blockfront
- 11 East 86th Street — Sylvan Bien's 1960 cooperative near Fifth; the postwar co-op alternative on the same street, and the lot where the Expanded Carnegie Hill Historic District boundary stops
- 126 East 86th Street — ARLOPARC, the 28-residence 2024 new-construction condominium one block east on the south side of East 86th Street between Park and Lexington. A different building entirely, and the closest new-development condominium alternative on the same street
- 180 East 88th Street — 47-residence Carnegie Hill new-construction condominium tower; matches on tenure, not on vintage
- 44 East 67th Street — another of the small group of prewar Upper East Side condominiums; useful for pricing tenure against vintage
- 1040 Park Avenue — Delano and Aldrich, 1925, one block east inside the Park Avenue Historic District; the designated-district cooperative comparison
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across Upper East Side — read The Roebling Team Guide to Upper East Side.
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.
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