Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

• Matt Lauer has picked up some new real estate in the Hamptons. The Today show co-host paid $2.15 million for a 1,500-square-foot waterfront cottage in Southampton. The 0.7-acre estate features a boat dock and a wraparound deck overlooking a pond connected to Little Peconic Bay. [WSJ]
• Luigi Zunino didn't come through. Three months after it was reported that the Italian exec was having difficulty closing on the three-unit spread at the Plaza he put a $9 million deposit on last year, the 10,026-square-foot apartment is now back on the market. It's currently listed for $39 million. [NYO, Stribling]
• Retired Pfizer exec Gary Jortner and his wife Cindy, have picked up a new apartment at 15 CPW, just a few floors up from the smaller apartment they listed for $3.195 million earlier this month. The couple paid $5.9 million for developer Gerardo Capo's apartment on the building's 12th floor. [Cityfile]More

• Michael Lemos, the son of a Greek shipping tycoon, isn't letting the dour real estate market get to his head. The London-based heir has raising the price of his full-floor apartment at 2 East 67th Street even though it's been sitting on the market for more than a year. The fifth-floor co-op, which went on the market for $34.9 million in May 2008 and was increased to $39.5 million last July, is now listed with Dolly Lenz for $45 million. [Cityfile, PDE]
• Och-Ziff chief financial officer Joel Frank and his wife Lynn paid $9.4 million for a third-floor condo at 15 CPW last October. But now they're buying an apartment downtown, too. The couple picked up 1,200-square-foot pad at 99 Jane Street for $1.5 million. [Curbed]
• David Schrader, a former senior managing director at Bear Stearns, has sold his 12th-floor apartment at 30 Fifth Avenue for $1.95 million. [Cityfile]

• Beny Alagem, the Israeli-born founder of Packard Bell Electronics and now the owner of the Beverly Hills Hilton, has put his 15th-floor condo at 15 CPW on the market. The three-bedroom apartment, which Alagem and his wife Adele bought for $15.4 million in April 2008, is listed for $24 million. [Cityfile, BHS]
• Dr. Athanase Lavidas, the chief executive of the Greek pharmaceutical company Lavipharm Group, has re-listed his massive apartment at 2 East 67th Street six months after taking it off the market. The 11-room spread, which features a design by interior designer John Saladino, is back on the market for the same $43 million price it was listed for last November. [Cityfile, BHS]
• Real estate mogul and former WorldCom director Francesco Galesi still hasn't managed to find a buyer for his 16-room River House duplex, more than four years after first listing it for $50 million. The price is now down to $35 million, though, so hopefully he won't have to wait another four. [NYO, BHS]

It's been three months since we compiled a list of the 20 most expensive apartments for sale in Manhattan. So what's happened to them since then? Not surprisingly, most of them remain on the market, and several have been discounted substantially since they were first put up for sale. (Just one of the 20 sold successfully, an apartment at 176 Perry that went for 30 percent less than its initial asking price.) The grim market conditions haven't stopped several others from putting their exorbitant homes on the market. Since we put the list together, a 78th-floor penthouse at the Time Warner Center hit the market for $65 million and a $47.5 million listing at 15 CPW surfaced. But if you're interested in seeing what happened to the original 20—and get a glimpse for what's happening to the high-end real estate market as a whole—the results are below.More

Yesterday we shared with you New York City's most expensive apartment rentals, just in case you haven't been killed in the market these past few weeks (or maybe you won the Powerball a few weeks ago?) and have been looking to upgrade to a fantastic apartment without making a long-term commitment. Today we've rounded up the 20 most expensive apartments for sale in the city. Pick up an overpriced co-op on Park Avenue for $30 million and you'll sleep better at night knowing you played a key role in boosting the city's ailing economy! (At the very least, you'll know you paid for a few years of private school for some lucky real estate broker.) One note: This list only includes "official" listings, which means apartments that are only rumored to be for sale (such as Richard Ullman's $75 million penthouse at 15 CPW or Courtney Sale Ross' duplex at 740 Park) aren't represented. But there's plenty of overpriced property to choose from regardless! More

Page Six Magazine published a handy little charticle on some of the most powerful co-op boards in town and the board members who stand between you and that $20 million co-op.

820 Fifth Avenue, Jayne Wrightsman
"Jayne has rejected fashion designer Valentino, as well as billionaires such as investor Ron Perelman and casino developer Steve Wynn."
740 Park Avenue, Charles Stevenson
"Barbra Streisand was rejected because the board thought 'she'd give too many parties.' Others denied include Joan Crawford, Elizabeth Taylor and Barbara Walters.
950 Fifth Avenue, Mort Zuckerman
"950 Fifth could be the city's most notorious bachelor pad. Robert Hurst and Mort Zuckerman are reportedly single, and ex-residents Loews Hotel CEO Jonathan Tisch and former Tyco head Dennis Kozlowski were bachelors when they resided here."

• Loews heir Jon Tisch is rumored to be paying $48 million for an apartment at 2 East 67th Street, the co-op that's also home to Leonard and Evelyn Lauder and Arthur Carter. Tisch and second wife Lizzie have been renting at Trump Park Avenue since Jon sold his duplex at 950 Fifth Avenue to Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz back in January. [NYDN]
• Restaurateur Phil Suarez and his wife Lucy paid $2.2 million for a second apartment at One Lexington Avenue. The seller? Winona Ryder. The couple is expected to combine it with the first-floor apartment they they've lived in since 2004.
• Now that she has a spacious penthouse in Midtown, Oprah pal Gayle King is selling off her home in Greenwich, Conn. She's asking $7.45 million for the 10,433-square-foot estate, which features four fireplaces, three garages, and a pool, and sits on four acres of land. [Real Estalker, Sotheby's]