Google Maps / Gage Skidmore
Free Upper East Side News, Delivered To Your Inbox
Feminist icon Gloria Steinem has quietly expanded her real estate footprint on the Upper East Side, purchasing a one-bedroom apartment in the same building she’s lived in for decades.
Advertisement
According to public records first reported by Mansion Global, Steinem paid $1.1 million last month for the floor-through unit, which features 16-foot ceilings, two working fireplaces, and an oversized living room. The five-unit brownstone co-op is located at 118 East 73rd Street (between Park and Lexington avenues).This marks Steinem’s third purchase in the building. She originally moved there as a renter in 1966 and bought her first apartment in the 1990s for $160,000. A second acquisition followed, and the two units now function as her primary residence. Notably, Ms. magazine was founded in one of those apartments in 1971.
The newly purchased apartment was listed in October for $975,000 and spent just 10 days on the market before Steinem outbid the first offer, according to listing agents Kelly Pieper and Susan Forrest-Reynolds of William Raveis. The unit had previously been home to Mary Ann Madden, the longtime editor of New York Magazine’s weekly word competition, who died in August.
Pieper told Mansion Global that Steinem “knew what a jewel it was,” adding that the two women had a longstanding relationship after living in the building for many years.
While the apartment is not intended as a personal expansion of Steinem’s living space, it may serve a broader mission. Laura Fischer, a representative from Steinem’s office, said the activist has long envisioned creating a place where traveling feminists could stay, meet, and host events. Though the plans are still in early stages, Steinem has established a foundation and hopes the new apartment will eventually house activists.
Steinem, 83, declined to comment directly, deferring to Fischer to speak on her behalf.
Have a news tip? Send it to us here!
