Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

• Thomas Renyi, who retired as chairman and CEO of the Bank of New York last year, has picked up an apartment at 920 Fifth Avenue. And he got a good deal, too. Renyi and his wife, Elizabeth, paid $7.55 million for the three-bedroom apartment, which is $2.55 million less than what it was first listed for in April 2008. [Cityfile]
• Software mogul Marty Sprinzen has found a buyer for his 4,552-square-foot apartment at 838 Fifth Avenue. The ninth-floor residence, which Sprinzen bought for $15.8 million in 2007 and put on the market for $24.5 million in May, went into contract to sell late last week. [NYO, BHS]
• The Hampshire House apartment once owned by the late Wall Street titan Zalman Bernstein is back on the market at a hefty discount. The 25th-floor residence, which became the subject of a lawsuit between Bernstein's daughter and the co-op's board in 2007, first went on the market for $17.5 million that same year. Now, after two years and four price chops, the apartment is once again for sale and is now priced at $11.5 million. [Cityfile, BHS]More

• The buyer who plunked down $9.41 million on Bernie and Ruth Madoff's oceanfront home in Montauk home has been revealed: It's billionaire real estate mogul Steve Roth and his wife, Broadway producer Daryl Roth. [WSJ]
• Alexander Navab, a partner at KKR and co-head of the firm's private equity business in North America, has paid $4.9 million for a two-bedroom co-op at the River House on East 52nd Street. Meanwhile, his four-bedroom spread just a few floors up remains on the market for $24.5 million. [Cityfile]
• The Minetta Lane townhouse owned by late party planner Robert Isabell has been reduced in price since first going on the market for $3.95 million. The 2,813-square-foot building, which features a "basement hand-chipped by Tibetan-born sherpas from Brooklyn," is now $3.45 million. [Curbed, MK] More

• Theater and movie producer Marty Richards is still trying to unload his River House apartment. It's been 10 years now that the 14-room maisonette has been on and off the market—with prices ranging from $11.5 million (in 2003) to $29 million (in 2006)—but Richards is giving it another go. The Oscar-winning producer has given the listing to broker Kathy Sloane for a third time, and it's currently listed for $13.5 million. [NYO]
• Brian Brille, Bank of America's former head of investment banking who was named president of the bank's Asia-Pacific region three weeks ago, has put his 5,473-square-foot apartment at Trump Park Avenue on the market. The four-bedroom pad, which Brille and his wife Leslie picked up for $8.6 million back in 2007, is listed for $14.75 million with Corcoran's Carrie Chiang and Loy Carlos. [Cityfile, Corcoran]
• Russian real estate investor Janna Bullock sold her townhouse on East 67th Street in January for $24.925 million. Now she's looking to sell her 21-foot-wide manse at 14 East 82nd Street. The home is now on the market for $20 million with Sotheby's SVP Nikki Field. [Real Deal] More

• Arlene Farkas, the ex-wife of real estate heir Bruce Farkas, has dropped the price of her 14-room duplex at the River House, which she first put on the market in November for $15 million after a state appeals court turned down her ex-husband's appeal to retain ownership of the apartment. The co-op is now listed for $13.5 million. [Cityfile, BHS]
• The apartment where Josh Hartnett had been living until recently is up for sale (or rent). The 2,200-square-foot pad at 237 Lafayette Street, which is owned by music execs James Dowdall and Rose Noone, is available for $2.1 million. Or you can rent it for $7,995 a month. [NYO, Citi Habitats]More

• Publishing heir Robert Ziff has dropped the price of his three-bedroom condo at the Trump International. The 41st-floor pad, which Ziff picked up for $5 million back in 2001 before moving to 720 Park a couple of years later, first went on the market for $13 million in July 2008. It's now listed for $11.5 million. [Cityfile, Sotheby's]
• Selling the triplex penthouse at 895 Park that once belonged to the late producer Charles Evans hasn't been easy. The co-op's board, led by real estate developer Dan Brodsky, has turned down an offer for the third time. Now that the unidentified financier's $14 million bid has been rejected, the apartment is now back on the market for $15.5 million. [NYO, Stribling, previously]
• KKR partner Alexander Navab has put his four-bedroom apartment at the River House on the market for $24.5 million. The 4,806-square-foot co-op comes with terrace, private elevator, and river views. [Real Deal, Sotheby's]
• Real estate developer Andrew Heiberger has sliced 12 percent off the asking price of his townhouse at 161 East 63rd Street, which he bought for $8.15 million in 2004 and put on the market for $16.85 million in February. The six-story mansion is now listed for $14.85 million. [Real Deal, Sotheby's]

♦  Hedge fund mogul and Obama mega-fundraiser James Torrey has chopped $2 million off the price of the duplex at 131 E. 66th St. that he and his wife listed just over one month ago. The 4,850-square-foot spread is now on the market for $12.5 million. [Cityfile, Corcoran]
♦  UBS exec Ramesh Singh and his wife Farida Khan are finally unloading their co-op at 860 Park Avenue. The four-bedroom apartment, which underwent a handful of price cuts since it was first listed for $13.4 million in 2007, was most recently on the market for $9.5 million before it went into contract last week. [Cityfile]
♦  Tommy Hilfiger has taken his $50 million Plaza apartment off the market, and is now reportedly planning to move into the 6,000-square-foot duplex himself. [NYP]More

• Meet the heavyweight political donors who live at River House.
• Have you looked inside Natalie Portman's apartment?
• Henry Kravis gave $5 million to charity last year. And he's still smiling despite the economy.
  
• Have you called George Whipple, Tom Colicchio, Jon Tisch, Cynthia Nixon, and Nathan Lane recently? We did.
  
• Jason Pomeranc's hotel has been delayed many times. But he's had other things on his mind.
• Have you heard about the Manhattan doctor who spent $10,000 on his dog's bark mitzvah?
• Meet Devorah Rose, New York's most relentless social climber.
  
• Nancy Jarecki's rather unusual new ad campaign.

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Since it was built in 1931, River House, the swank and secluded Art Deco palace behind wrought-iron gates at the dead end of East 52nd Street, has topped the short list of exclusive (and very expensive) co-ops along the East River waterfront. Home to Henry Kissinger (and Pete Peterson until recently), the building boasts three 20 million+ listings at the moment, including a large tower duplex owned by real estate mogul Francesco Galesi, which was boldly listed for $50 million almost three years ago but has since come down to $35 million. (Other apartments for sale include Laura Pels' terraced third-floor unit for $29 million, and the opulent maisonette of Chicago producer Marty Richards.) Naturally, it's also home to a long list of heavy-hitting political donors. After the jump, a list of what some River House residents have done with their cash in this year's battle for the White House.More

• Project Runway hostess Heidi Klum is leaving her Bank Street pad, now that the deal to sell her penthouse has officially closed. Although the $5.35 million sale price is less than the $5.6 million the apartment was rumored to be going for, the two-bedroom was too small to fit her (rapidly expanding) family, who will remain in LA for the time being.

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