Main image: Google Maps. Bill Cosby (2011) by The World Affairs Council of Philadelphia via Wikimedia Commons
Do you have an extra $7 million? If so, you might be interested in buying Bill Cosby’s Lenox Hill home, which just hit the market despite being at the center of an ongoing foreclosure battle.
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On Tuesday, Crain’s New York Business pointed out that the property at 243 East 61st Street (between Second and Third avenues) was listed for sale by the Corcoran Group. It’s a surprising development given the fact that the disgraced actor and his wife, Camille, were sued by CitiMortgage in December over claims that the couple owes $4.2 million in relation to a 2010 loan plus interest costs.
In February, Joseph Jacobson, Cosby’s lawyer in the foreclosure case, denied the accusations and alleged that the lender miscalculated how much is owed, according to court records. As for why the Cosbys are selling the brownstone while the case is still being litigated in Manhattan Supreme Court, Jacobson provided no comment to Crain’s. (East Side Feed didn’t hear back by press time.)
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The Cosbys bought the 5,000-square foot property in April 1980 through a trust for $327,250. It was reportedly where Cosby’s only son, Ennis, lived before he was shot and killed in Los Angeles in 1997, according to an article published in the New York Times that year.
The Corcoran listing describes the home, which was built in 1905, as “a true architectural gem located in the heart of Lenox Hill’s iconic Treadwell Farm Historic District.” It contains six bedrooms and six bathrooms (four full and two half-baths).
The Cosbys own another larger home nearby at 18 East 71st Street, which is also facing foreclosure. The 12,000-square foot property, purchased in 1987 for $6.2 million, according to the New York Observer, was their primary residence. They are accused of defaulting on $17.5 million in loans tied to the townhouse, $12.25 million of which came from CitiMortgage in 2010.
As of now, the 71st Street townhouse does not appear to be on the market.
Cosby has faced numerous financial struggles in recent years. Once known for his family-friendly persona and Jell-O pudding pop commercials, he has experienced a spectacular fall from grace over the last decade-plus as more than 50 women have accused him of sex crimes. He was found guilty of sexual assault in Pennsylvania in 2018 and spent time in prison before the conviction was overturned in 2021 and he was released.
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