- Year built
- 1925
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 48
- Floors
- 14
- Landmark
- Designated
888 Park Avenue is the southernmost contributing structure of the Park Avenue Historic District — the LPC-designated district (LP-2547, April 29, 2014) covering Park Avenue from East 79th Street north to East 91st Street. The building's corner position at Park Avenue and East 78th Street sits one block south of the district's formal boundary; the architectural and historical significance that the building anchors at the corridor's southern edge is structurally meaningful both within and beyond the historic district designation.
The 1925–1926 building was designed by Schwartz & Gross and developed by Julius Tishman & Sons. Schwartz & Gross — alongside J.E.R. Carpenter and Rosario Candela — was one of the three architectural firms that defined the 1920s Park Avenue residential building cycle. The firm's broader Park Avenue body of work includes 470, 525, 885, 910, 911, 930, 941, 970, 983, 1045, 1070, 1095, 1125, and 1165 Park Avenue — a substantial corridor presence that made Schwartz & Gross the most prolific of the era's Park Avenue residential firms by number of commissions.
The architectural register at 888 Park is Renaissance Revival, executed in red brick with rope quoins and a decorative cornice — a classical-revival vocabulary characteristic of Schwartz & Gross's mid-1920s Park Avenue work. The 1953 cooperative conversion places 888 Park among the earliest Park Avenue cooperative conversions of the post-war era.
The building's residential history is among the deepest on the corridor. Documented residency through public reporting has included Caroline Kennedy; Howard Milstein (the billionaire investor whose 2015 dispute with primate-advocacy groups received substantial coverage in The Real Deal); Louis Bacon (the hedge fund manager and founder of Moore Capital, who acquired two penthouses including a 13-room configuration with a 2,000-square-foot terrace for approximately $13.7 million); and Steve Mnuchin (who sold a duplex within the building, documented in East Side Feed reporting).
Architecture and unit composition
The 48 cooperative apartments distribute across the building's 14 stories in configurations carrying the mid-1920s Park Avenue layout discipline. Apartment configurations include classic-seven and classic-eight layouts on the standard floors; combined-unit configurations at the penthouse tier, including the Louis Bacon penthouse with its 2,000-square-foot terrace.
Apartment-level features documented across the building's inventory include the substantial ceiling heights, formal entry galleries, library-living combinations, formal dining configurations, and the broader architectural finish specifications characteristic of Schwartz & Gross's mid-1920s Park Avenue work.
CityRealty assigns the building a rating of 78.
Building operations
888 Park operates as a full-service cooperative with full-time doorman and live-in superintendent. The amenity infrastructure includes a fitness center and private storage. The building does not carry an on-site garage.
The cooperative policy framework — 50 percent minimum down payment — supports a structurally specific buyer pool calibrated to the trophy pre-war Park Avenue cooperative tier. Additional policy specifics (flip tax structure, pet policy, pied-à-terre allowance, sublet duration limits) should be verified directly during due diligence.
What to know if you’re buying
The Schwartz & Gross architectural pedigree is real and substantial. Among the most prolific of the 1920s Park Avenue firms; 888 Park represents a structurally consequential commission within the firm's body of work.
The Park Avenue Historic District contributing-structure status is real institutional recognition. Designated LP-2547 by the NYC LPC on April 29, 2014; the building sits at the district's southern edge.
The 50 percent minimum down payment is structural. Plan for the substantial cash requirement at closing.
The 1953 cooperative conversion places the building among the earliest Park Avenue cooperative conversions. The deep institutional cooperative history produces a building culture continuously refined for more than seven decades.
Verify operational specifics during due diligence. Specific board approval requirements, financing structure, sublet policies, current capital project pipeline, and the LL11 façade cycle on the 1925–26 vintage should be reviewed against current management documents.
Closing timelines are cooperative-standard. Plan for 6–10 weeks from contract through board approval to closing.
What to know if you’re selling
Marketing should emphasize the Schwartz & Gross credential, the Park Avenue Historic District position, and the documented resident history. All are structural identity features.
Pricing requires apartment-level comparable analysis. Substantial variation across the building's standard floor apartments, combined-unit penthouses, and the specific Louis Bacon penthouse configuration.
Closing timelines are cooperative-standard.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 888 Park Avenue, also evaluate:
- 910 Park Avenue — Schwartz & Gross 1924; immediate same-firm same-vintage Park Avenue peer
- 925 Park Avenue — Schwartz & Gross 1908–09; earlier Schwartz & Gross Park Avenue work
- 940 Park Avenue — pre-war Park Avenue peer
- 950 Park Avenue — pre-war Park Avenue peer
- 740 Park Avenue — Candela / Cross & Cross 1929–30; trophy pre-war cooperative
- 1040 Fifth Avenue — Candela; Fifth Avenue pre-war trophy peer
The Roebling Team at 888 Park
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in Central Park West, the Upper East Side, and the broader Park-facing Manhattan market. We publish this building profile because Park Avenue buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — architectural attribution, board context, and pricing at the apartment level.
If you're considering a purchase or sale at 888 Park, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.