Taxpayer Alert! U.S. Government Buys $16M Penthouse at 50 UN Plaza
Taxpayer Alert! U.S. Government Buys M Penthouse at 50 UN Plaza
This is not typical government housing: The United States of America is now the proud owner of a posh penthouse at 50 United Nations Plaza. Our tax dollars paid $15.85 million for the luxury pad in May, real estate records show.
The pricey purchase on the 37th floor will house the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. The lucky inhabitant looks to be the acting U.S. Ambassador Jonathan Cohen, who succeeded Nikki Haley when she resigned her post at the end of 2018.
Haley lived in the same building, but she rented her 40th-floor unit. Her stay wasn’t without controversy. According to the New York Times, the State Department had paid $52,701 to install custom mechanical curtains in her $58,000-a-month rental.
There is a little positive news: Our federal dollars weren’t spent on a bidding war. The unit purchased was initially listed for $24,250,000, so the government paid about $8.4 million less.
Built in 2015, the 88-unit tower was developed by Zeckendorf Development in partnership with Global Holdings Inc. The firm of Foster + Partners handled the interiors and architecture.
The finished product offers views of the midtown skyline, the East River, and the United Nations Secretariat Building.
The full-floor condo has five beds, 6.5 baths, and two staff bedrooms, should they be needed. Our ambassador can entertain global leaders in the spacious living room, dining room, and library with bay windows and 11-foot ceilings.
The large kitchen features an eat-in area and family room. The space is equipped with black granite counters, two Miele dishwashers, two wall ovens, a “speed oven,” and two Sub-Zero refrigerators.
The building is staffed and offers residents a gym, swimming pool, and steam room.
The new tenant of this unit will be one floor down from the U.K.’s representative to the U.N., whose government also snagged a full-floor unit, according to the Guardian.
If Haley’s Twitter account is a guide, the luxe apartment will serve as a place to practice plenty of cocktail party diplomacy.
Enjoying the holidays with sweet friends…#TisTheSeason pic.twitter.com/sehd3IV4BH
— Archive: Ambassador Nikki Haley (@AmbNikkiHaley) December 24, 2017
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