La Guardia’s lair (but not the airport!)
A HISTORIC Upper East Side townhouse has sold for $15.25 million, almost one third off the original asking price. It’s not immediately clear who the buyer is. The fivestory home at 154 E. 63rd St. was originally asking $21.8 million in 2019. The four-bedroom property’s paneled library is where Fiorello La Guardia (inset) was sworn in as mayor in 1934. The 32foot-wide home is 8,000 square feet. Architect Frederick Sterner, who also lived in the home, combined two rowhouses. (He also did t across the street, at 153 E.
63rd St., which was home to burlesque legend Gypsy
Rose Lee and, later, filmmaker
Spike Lee.) This property’s seller is the estate of Diana King, a daughter of Charles King, whose production company was best known for syndicated TV hits like “Jeopardy!” and “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” Diana King bought the home for around $3.7 million in 1992 as a pied-aterre and “entertaining venue” for her philanthropic ventures, including events for the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation, which she created to support education in TV and film production. The building features a central courtyard that sits directly in front of a detached rear great room with 20-foot vaulted ceilings. Other touches include stained and leaded glass windows, eight fireplaces, a solarium, a media room and a rare two-car garage. The listing brokers were Chris Kann and the late Robby Browne, of the Corcoran Group. The buyer was repped by Matt Lesser and
Ravi Kantha of Leslie J. Garfield.