21 Astor Pl

21 Astor

One of the manifest truths about New York City is that it’s always changing — but through all the flux there are certain constants. Multiple generations of New Yorkers have come to know 21 Astor as either a historical marker, meeting point or, at the very least, a kind of gateway between both the East and Greenwich Villages. For well over a century, since 1892, this iconic Romanesque Revival designed by George E. Harney has seen many lives before it was converted to luxury condominiums in 2003. According to an article by Nadine Brozan in the New York Times, the building was originally home to the Mercantile Library before it moved uptown a few decades later, and later, the Astor Place Opera House, Chinese consulate and several other businesses over the years. Today, behind the prewar, red brick- and terracotta-clad facade and beautiful arched windows on the top floors, 50 residences (consisting of one- to three-bedrooms, as well as several duplexes) have taken root. The 11-story conversion was the brainchild of Miki Naftali — the former CEO of Elad Properties who also redesigned the Plaza Hotel in 2007— alongside New York-based architects H. Thomas O’Hara and Gal Nauer. Buyers can expect soaring ceiling heights that surpass 13 feet, floor-to-ceiling windows and some units with working gas fireplaces. “It’s a boutique condo in an excellent location with apartments that are not cookie cutter,” says Nanette Shipley, principal broker of Shipley Group LLC. “Some of them have spectacular views. Windows on the eastern side have beautiful half-moon windows, they are all part of the prewar construction.”