New York Times CEO buys “dilapidated castle” on UWS

From left: Mark Thompson, 255 West 90th Street and Lynn Sullivan
From left: Mark Thompson, 255 West 90th Street and Lynn Sullivan

It’s all the views that’s fit to print. Or perhaps that’s what New York Times Company honcho Mark Thompson thought when he shelled out $3.4 million for a ninth-floor pad on the Upper West Side, according to property records filed with the city today.

Thompson, the president and CEO of the company, and his wife, writer Jane Blumberg, bought a four-bedroom co-op at the Cornwall at 255 West 90th Street near Broadway.

London-born journalist Thompson served as director-general of the BBC from 2004 until last year, when he joined the Midtown-based New York Times Company. The media company includes the New York Times, the International New York Times, NYTimes.com and INYT.com.

The unit in the 12-story red-brick building maintains several vintage flourishes from its construction in 1910: four sets of French doors, a nonfunctioning gas fireplace and stained glass windows. The property recently finished construction on a new roof.

The apartment hit the market in April with a $4 million price tag, which was chopped down to $3.78 million and then $3.6 million. Lynn Sullivan of Brown Harris Stevens represented the seller, while Jeffrey Silverstein of Douglas Elliman represented the buyer.

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The seller was John Ziegler, who lived there for about 35 years and wanted to scale down, Sullivan said.

“The seller didn’t want anyone to rip it apart, but this couple was interested in restoring it,” Sullivan told The Real Deal. “They said, ‘We can see the treasure in a dilapidated castle.’”

Thompson declined comment, while Ziegler and Silverstein could not immediately be reached.

The average price of currently available units at the Cornwall is $1,403 per square foot, CityRealty data show.