From the author of the bestselling Philistines at the Hedgerow, a
mesmerizing inside account of the high-stakes world of Manhattan
residential real estate Steven Gaines takes us from New York's most
expensive condominiums and co-ops to the offices of its most
powerful real estate brokers to reveal the outlandish displays of
ego, bad behavior, and status hunger that come into play when the
best addresses in the city are on the line. With his signature
elan, Gaines weaves a gossipy tapestry of brokers, buyers, co-op
boards, and eccentric landlords and tells of the apartment hunting
and renovating adventures of many celebrities-from Tommy Hilfiger
to Donna Karan, from Jerry Seinfeld to Steven Spielberg, from
Barbra Streisand to Madonna. Gaines uncovers the secretive,
unwritten rules of co-op boards: why diplomats and pretty divorcees
are frowned upon, what not to wear to a board interview, and which
of the biggest celebrities and CEOs have been turned away from the
elite buildings of Fifth and Park Avenues. He introduces the
carriage-trade brokers who never have to advertise for clients and
gives us finely etched portraits of a few of the discreet, elderly
society ladies who decide who gets into the so-called Good
Buildings. Here, too, is a fascinating chronicle of the changes in
Manhattan's residential skyline, from the slums of the nineteenth
century to the advent of the luxury building. Gaines describes how
living in boxes stacked on boxes came to be seen as the ultimate in
status, and how the co-operative apartment, originally conceived as
a form of housing for the poor, came to be used as a legal means of
black-balling undesirable neighbors. A social history told through
brick and mortar, The Sky's the Limit is the ultimate look inside
one of the most exclusive and expensive enclaves in the world, and
at the lengths to which people will go to get in.
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