From the September issue: No one knows exactly why Jeff Blau, the 41-year-old president of the
Related Companies, was denied a co-op board interview this spring at
exclusive 820 Fifth Avenue. In what would have been one of the biggest
deals of the year, Blau reportedly planned to pay $31 million for a
fourth-floor spread at the limestone building between 63rd and 64th
streets, where each apartment takes up a floor.
Many possible explanations for the high-profile turndown have been bandied about by real estate observers.
Was it the fact that Blau is in real estate, at a time when the
city’s housing market has slumped? Was it the fact that he’s Jewish, in
a city where many of the most exclusive buildings were forged in a
crucible of anti-Semitism? Was there bad blood between Blau and a
building resident?
