$15 million lawsuit against the Dakota lives on

Part 2 of 2

The co-operative building is legend.

Former home of John Lennon, Lauren Bacall and Leonard Bernstein, location of Rosemary’s Baby, the hulking Dakota on a corner of Central Park West at 72nd St. continues under the cloud of a $15 million lawsuit lodged by an African-American resident who served two terms as president of the board.

Alphonse Fletcher Jr., who moved into the building in 1992 claims racial discrimination in the board’s rejection of his application to purchase an adjoining apartment.  His complaint adds that he wasn’t alone, naming

Fair Housing Act can trip up unwary co-op boards

Part 1 of 2

Grossman, 210 E. 36th St., and Thandrayen. (Source: The Real Deal)

It is up to the courts to decide whether a prospective buyer’s claim of discrimination is valid in a $1 million lawsuit.

But the case brought by an African whose application to a seven-member co-op board was rejected highlights the treacherous terrain of anti-discrimination laws.

According to the Real Deal last week, Goldwyn Thandrayen, a native of Mauritius, contended in a complaint amended two weeks ago that the board of 210 E. 36th St. in the Murray Hill neighborhood discriminated against him on the basis of national origin.

Out and About: Welcome home, Rosemary

The Dakota

It probably isn’t a stretch to venture that the Dakota, at 1 W. 72nd St., is the most photographed apartment building in Manhattan and possibly the whole world.

It is, of course, where John Lennon lived at the time of his death in front of the building, never mind a slew of other celebrities.  It also was shown as the site where Rosemary’s baby was born.

Departing from my norm of providing only vague addresses of the properties that I visit, let me tell you about a co-op that went on the market there in April.  And it is one memorable apartment.

Weekly Roundup: Surprising April statistics, persistently low rates, furniture trends. . . more

Have a great and memorable holiday weekend!

Please note: No new post until Tuesday

Viva les Français, some real estate brokers exclaim

Times tough for renters who smoke and even for well-heeled non-smokers

Condo developer says he’ll ask $1 million — no doubt ignoring publicity dividend — for Greenwich Village parking space

Going solar, River Arts co-op on Hudson saves lots of $$$

And developer renovating 6-unit Brooklyn brownstone expects net-zero energy use

Limiting search to no-fee listings may not be without cost or in renters’ best interest

One fifth of homeowners in wide area underwater

Sports figure’s Dakota apartment gets another down

Korean-American novelist proves that moving to Harlem townhouse is far from free

Emmy-winning son of

Weekly Roundup: Not 1 word about that wedding

Here’s your chance to catch up with news included to inform, enlighten and perhaps even entertain you. To read about The Big Apple, check out the other of today’s posts and look for Out and About early next week.

Actress joins others in firing bullets into landlord’s market-value rents

Her purchase in Greenwich Village proves that it pays to have friends

Fated forever to be “daughter of,” a lesser light sells her apartment for a pretty penny

Big Apple deserter and football Hall of Famer puts Dakota co-op on the market

Jeans heirs seek to sell $60 million summer place, and loud mouth takes a loss in Connecticut

Builders see little relief from sluggish market

No wonder: March sales

Weekly Roundup: Housing stats muddy waters

Here’s your chance to catch up with news included to inform, enlighten and perhaps even entertain you. To read about The Big Apple, check out the other of today’s posts and look for Out and About early next week.

Brooklyn Heights brownstone apartment that a late pugilist, mayoral candidate, author owned is on the market

Fashion designer with an elastic view of her Greenwich Village home stretches its boundaries

Co-op board twice rejects buyer hopeful of acquiring Astor apartment

Selling his duplex for 10 percent below ask suggests he may not be the greatest at everything

‘I wuz robbed,” TV detective might well cry

All-Star third basemen puts tricked-out loft on the market

Apartment at the Dakota caught author’s eye

Russian billionaire’s girlfriend learns that diamonds aren’t a girl’s only friend

Housing construction remains near historic lows, but

The Big Apple: Condo prices show resilience

Manhattan isn’t the only borough with prestige buildings

Every borough has its buildings that tower, literally or figuratively, over the rest of the housing stock, notes the New York Times. (Well, almost every borough: Staten Island’s upper crust tends to live in single-family houses.)

The residents of these august structures say their homes in Queens, Brooklyn and the are every bit as

‘For all sad words of tongue or pen . . .’

” . . . The saddest are these: It might have been.”

The San Remo

So wrote the 19th Century poet John Greenleaf Whittier.

The building pictured above and the one below represent some of the most memorable moments in which my life as an apartment owner might have been quite different.

The time was probably 1974-75, when New York City was facing possible bankruptcy.

My then-wife and I had saved enough money for a modest down payment–laughable now for its small size–and had decided it was time to buy an apartment.

We looked and looked, even made a false start by making an offer on a place that, as I dimly recall, belonged to a New York Times writer (Clive Barnes?) on West End Avenue.  As the offers flew back and forth, we chickened out after a sleepless night.

Then we saw a beautifully maintained two-bedroom corner apartment in the San Remo