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    A Sound Effects Pioneer’s Hudson River-View Manhattan Apartment Is Up for Grabs

    He might not be a household name, but if you happened to watch movies in the 1960s and beyond, you likely came across Elisha Birnbaum’s handiwork as a foley artist. Think of a trotting horse achieved via coconut shells striking against a carpeted floor and even a knife cutting through flesh, which he mimicked by buying the largest turkey he could find and then mutilating the massive fowl so much that his wife Zmira refused to cook it for dinner.

    He subsequently founded the New York City-based Sound One Corporation, which would go on to become a prominent East Coast post-production sound studio that worked with top producers and directors such as Martin Scorsese, Nora Ephron, Spike Lee, Ang Lee, and Woody Allen. And though he retired in 2000 after selling Sound One to Liberty Media, Birnbaum’s CineMontage obituary reports that he continued to watch as many movies as he could and picked up painting and digital art to fill his days.

    Now, almost a year after he passed away at age 92, the Upper West Side apartment that he occupied for more than five decades has popped up for sale, asking $3.7 million. The listing is held by Jennifer Roberts of Coldwell Banker Warburg.

    The entrance gallery flows to a skyline-view living room warmed by a wood-burning fireplace.

    Gamut Photos/Coldwell Banker Warburg

    RELATED: Dick Ebersol and Susan Saint James’s N.Y.C. Pied-à-Terre Is Up for Grabs at $2.5 Million

    Sited within the 18-story Normandy residential building designed in the late ’30s by noted architect Emery Roth, Birnbaum’s former home rests on the 17th floor and has four bedrooms and three baths in roughly 2,400 square feet of living space spread across two combined units. The interiors are outfitted with herringbone-patterned hardwood floors, nine-foot beamed ceilings, wood-paneled walls, stained-glass accents, and large windows overlooking the picturesque skyline and the Hudson River.

    Highlights include a columned entrance gallery that leads to a living room boasting a wood-burning fireplace. On one side of the gallery is a spacious bookshelf-lined room holding a dining area that connects to a modern black-and-red kitchen equipped with an eat-in peninsula and an adjacent seating/breakfast nook.

    The bookshelf-lined dining area sits adjacent to an eye-catching red-and-black kitchen.

    Gamut Photos/Coldwell Banker Warburg

    Elsewhere is the primary bedroom, which hosts a private terrace and a swanky blue-tiled bath with a built-in soaking tub and a separate shower. Three additional bedrooms include one with its own entrance, plus a second terrace and a laundry room that previously served as an extra kitchen.

    A hefty $6,270 monthly common charge fee allows the new owner to take advantage of numerous amenities that encompass 24-hour doormen, a resident manager, a landscaped garden courtyard and rooftop deck, two fitness centers, a children’s playroom, and bike and storage space. An added bonus: The building is right across the street from Riverside Park and its scenic walking paths.

    Click here for more photos of Elisha Birnbaum’s longtime Manhattan home.

    Gamut Photos/Coldwell Banker Warburg More

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    Martha Stewart Just Picked Up a $12.3 Million Condo at an Iconic N.Y.C. Building

    Was it the fact that the New York City building is the site of a popular Hulu mystery-comedy series starring the likes of Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez? Or maybe it’s because the place is within walking distance of the legendary Zabar’s deli and grocery store, where a certain well-known female entrepreneur has reportedly been visiting as of late for some very thinly sliced prosciutto? We might never know. But whatever the case, the attraction was more than sufficient for Martha Stewart and her daughter Alexis to dole out $12.3 million for a chic residence tucked away in The Belnord, aka The Arconia from Only Murders in the Building.

    Last priced at $13.2 million, the duplex unit at the former luxury apartment house went to the lifestyle maven and her media personality offspring at an impressive $6 million discount off the original $18 million ask way back in 2017. Crain’s New York Business, the first to report the transaction, revealed that the seller of the unit was The Belnord’s current developer, Westbrook Partners, which took over a lengthy condo-conversion project from HFZ Capital Group in 2021.

    Nestled within the 12-story, pre-war residential building, Stewart’s new home rests on the top two floors and overlooks the building’s landscaped interior courtyard as well as West 87th Street. Listings show there are six bedrooms and seven baths in 4,600 square feet of Robert A.M. Stern-designed living space boasting north and south exposures, 10-foot ceilings, and solid white oak floors with a mix of chevron and plank patterns.

    Steve Martin, Selena Gomez, and Martin Short on the set of “Only Murders in the Building” at The Belnord, which is used for all exterior and courtyard scenes involving The Arconia.

    James Devaney/GC Images

    Highlights include a formal entry foyer that leads to a spacious living room sporting a wall of oversized windows. An adjacent dining area connects to a custom-designed Molteni kitchen equipped with custom cabinetry, Calacatta marble countertops, high-end Gaggenau appliances, a 45-bottle Sub-Zero wine refrigerator, and an integrated storage banquette.

    The elegant primary suite holds an outdoor terrace, a large walk-in closet, and a luxe marble-clad bath with radiant heated floors, bespoke vanities, and Kohler, Dornbracht and Kallista fixtures; elsewhere is a powder room flaunting polished Nero Marquina marble and a Snow White marble-carved sink, plus a laundry room equipped with a Whirlpool washer and dryer.

    The Stewarts will be privy to plenty of building amenities and services courtesy of a hefty $4,493 monthly common charge fee, including a 24-hour doorman, an entertainment lounge with a catering kitchen, a plush game room, a double-height sport court, a fitness center, and a children’s playroom.

    In addition to the new home at The Belnord, Stewart’s primary residence is a 156-acre estate in Westchester County, N.Y., that she paid $15.2 million for in 2002. According to Crains, the Emmy Award-winning TV host, entrepreneur, and bestselling author sold the family’s West Village triplex apartment for $31 million early last year, shortly before she and her daughter both signed the deed at The Belnord in April 2023. More