New York Review of Books Buys Milton Glaser’s Townhouse

Now that's a literal NYRB classic

Townhouse
Glaser's former townhouse.
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What happens when one icon of New York City culture buys a storied property associated with another iconic figure who looms large in the city’s culture? You’d have something pretty similar to what occurred this week around a Kips Bay townhouse with a long and storied history — including having once served as a clubhouse for Tammany Hall members.

Literary Hub reports that the New York Review of Books recently purchased the historic townhouse on 32nd Street. Besides its history in the bygone days of Old New York, the townhouse also has a more contemporary connection to the city’s history: its previous owner was the late Milton Glaser, best known for his work designing the “I ♥ NY” logo.

According to The Real Deal’s report on the sale, the building changed hands for $7.5 million. That’s no small amount — but it’s also significantly less than the $12 million that Compass had reportedly hoped to sell it for.

The New York Review of Books is currently based on Hudson Street in Manhattan; it’s unclear if this means that they’ll be relocating to the townhouse or had some other use in mind for it.

If this is the New York Review of Books‘ new home, it won’t be the first publication to occupy that space: New York, which Glaser co-founded, was based there from 1968 to 1974.

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