House of Outrageous Fortune
Fifteen Central Park West, the World's Most Powerful Address
Michael Gross
- “Michael
- Gross’s
- new
- book…packs
- [in]
- almost
- as
- many
- stories
- as
- there
- are
- apartments
- in
- the
- building.
- The
- Jackie
- Collins
- of
- real
- estate
- likes
- to
- map
- expressions
- of
- power,
- money
- and
- ego…
- Even
- more
- crammed
- with
- billionaires
- and
- their
- exploits
- than
- 740
- Park”
- (Penelope
- Green,
- The
- New
- York
- Times).With
- two
- concierge-staffed
- lobbies,
- a
- walnut-lined
- library,
- a
- lavish
- screening
- room,
- a
- private
- sixty-seat
- restaurant
- offering
- residents
- room
- service,
- a
- health
- club
- complete
- with
- a
- seventy-foot
- swimming
- pool,
- penthouses
- that
- cost
- almost
- $100
- million,
- and
- a
- tenant
- roster
- that’s
- a
- roll
- call
- of
- business
- page
- heroes
- and
- villains,
- Fifteen
- Central
- Park
- West
- is
- the
- most
- outrageously
- successful,
- insanely
- expensive,
- titanically
- tycoon-stuffed
- real
- estate
- development
- of
- the
- twenty-first
- century.In
- this
- “stunning”
- (CNN)
- and
- “deliciously
- detailed”
- (Booklist,
- starred
- review)
- New
- York
- Times
- bestseller,
- journalist
- Michael
- Gross
- turns
- his
- gimlet
- eye
- on
- the
- new-money
- wonderland
- that’s
- sprung
- up
- on
- the
- southwest
- rim
- of
- Central
- Park.
- Mixing
- an
- absorbing
- business
- epic
- with
- hilarious
- social
- comedy,
- Gross
- “takes
- another
- gossip-laden
- bite
- out
- of
- the
- upper
- crust”
- (Sam
- Roberts,
- The
- New
- York
- Times),
- whichincludes
- Denzel
- Washington,
- Sting,
- Norman
- Lear,
- top
- executives,
- and
- Russian
- and
- Chinese
- oligarchs,
- to
- name
- a
- few.
- And
- he
- recounts
- the
- legendary
- building’s
- inspired
- genesis,
- costly
- construction,
- and
- the
- flashy
- international
- lifestyle
- it
- has
- brought
- to
- a
- once
- benighted
- and
- socially
- déclassé
- Manhattan
- neighborhood.More
- than
- just
- an
- apartment
- building,
- 15CPW
- represents
- a
- massive
- paradigm
- shift
- in
- the
- lifestyle
- of
- New
- York’s
- rich
- and
- famous—and
- is
- a
- bellwether
- of
- the
- city’s
- changing
- social
- and
- financial landscape.
