One is luckiest number at city estate auction

This is the best I ever can manage for a forbidden photo inside the impossibly lush Surrogate Courthouse.

Only a couple of dozen hopefuls turned out for the city’s estate auction in the Surrogate Courthouse yesterday, so two lone bidders ran away with co-ops at the minimum asking price.

Lawyer Glenn Ostrager was the sole bidder for the 825-sf apartment at 60 Sutton Place South, which he won for $580,000.  Paddle in hand, a second bidder dropped out before the auction even started after hearing the sale conditions read; among other things, the buyer is required to replace the metal-framed windows and the sliding glass door to the balcony.

Ostrager, who declined to be photographed or quoted much, said he lived in the area and planned to move into the new place.  That’s provided the board approves the sale.

Asked how he felt about succeeding with his bid, the lawyer responded by saying just this:

“I don’t have any reaction.”

Ostrager seemed like a nice enough guy, but let’s say that he wouldn’t be my first choice for a dinner companion.

No one showed up to bid on the units offered at

City schedules estate auction of one-bedroom Sutton Place South co-op plus 6 other apartments

60 Sutton Place South

Co-ops ranging from Sutton Place South to Washington Heights are scheduled for another of the city’s estate auctions on Aug. 26.

Among the units to be sold is an 825-sf apartment at 60 Sutton Place South, a 1953 building in which 11 of 357 co-ops are on the market with asking prices from $605,000 for a 750-sf residence to $2.495 million for one of 2,410 square feet.

Manhattan Public Administrator Ethel J. Griffin will seek to dispose of the properties, which can be inspected Aug. 12, 17, 19 and 24  from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day.  The following co-ops go on the block starting at 11:30 a.m. (usually later, however), and I expect to be there: