A century-old Upper East Side walkup is now encased by the cement skeletons of two hulking highrises, leaving tenants to consider a uniquely New York question: Is decent rent worth living in the center of a construction zone?
So far, residents say they’re willing to wait it out inside a five-story building eclipsed by a pair of towers, but the noise, dust and hassle haven’t been easy.
“It’s hell on wheels here,” said pianist Anita Humer, who moved into the building in the 1980s.
The striking scene along Third Avenue, between 74th and 75th streets is the result of a yearslong play to patch together lots, demolish old buildings and, when that didn’t work, purchase the “air rights” and permission to deck over the quaint, brick tenement building as part of a 33-story condo complex. Another tower on the other side rises 18 stories straight into the air, boxing in the old walk-up.
The arrangement — juxtaposing an old New York residence directly beneath a shiny behemoth — stands out as an extreme example of a fairly common deal, where developers purchase the space above a neighboring lot because it allows them to make their own projects taller or bulkier, while still complying with zoning rules that restrict size. The old building will remain a time-capsule, with few options for future redevelopment.
With limited space to build in Manhattan, developers sometimes reach an agreement with a landlord to stretch their projects up and over their neighbors’ roofs through a construction technique known as a cantilever.
Those Jenga-like designs can make air rights deals way more visible to everyday New Yorkers, said Sheila Pozon, special counsel at the real estate law firm Kramer Levin.
“People notice when they see cantilevers, because that’s very obvious,” said Pozon, who has worked on hundreds of air rights deals. “It’s like, ‘Oh, wow. This is different than what I’m used to seeing.”
But for tenants of eight apartments inside the older building,…
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