Market boom
A fancy Upper East Side townhouse built on the ashes of a former property that went up in smoke after a suicidal doctor blew himself up there has entered contract. The home, at 34 E. 62nd St., was last asking $19.75 million — down from its original $32.5 million asking price in 2017. The contract was first revealed in the Olshan Report. In 1926, a wealthy spy named Vincent Astor (inset) lived in the townhouse and founded a spy club there known as “The Room.” But there was more recent tragedy. In 2006, a doctor named Nicholas Bartha took his own life there after reportedly
tampering with the gas line and fueling an explosion — with him inside — that took down the four-story property. Bartha, who was dubbed “Dr. Boom” by The Post, did it as revenge to prevent paying his ex-wife a $4 million divorce settlement, according to reports. A new home built on the 20-foot-wide property, a 9,200-square-foot, steel-andconcrete behemoth, comes with a French limestone facade and a slate mansard roof. Inside, there are five bedrooms, 6½ bathrooms and a lot of raw space for the new owners to work with. The listing broker was of Douglas Elliman.