Source: Sales data from Streeteasy.com and buyer/seller information from various published reports

Forget about new brokerage models, new markets and new economic realities. When it came to the top of the New York City residential sales market in 2011 consistency was king. (See the top 5 above and the top 10 sales after the jump.)

The effects of the European debt crisis crept across the Atlantic Ocean this summer, and hindered the traditional high season for sales — but not for the ultra-rich: 11 of the 25 Manhattan sales worth more than $20 million closed in June, July and August. In fact, July 15, the very same day eight European banks failed their stress tests, the ninth and 17th priciest sales of the year closed for a combined $49.75 million. [more]

From left: 15 CPW, Time Warner Center and the Plaza

Not only is the high-end of the Manhattan housing market healthy, but in some respects it’s performing just as well as it did during the market’s peak, according to the Wall Street Journal. Seven deals worth more than $30 million have been recorded this year, not including Sanford Weill’s recent $88 million sale, the most since 2008 and the third-most ever. Further, the $6,000 per square foot price point that was noteworthy even in 2008 has become somewhat more commonplace, the Journal said.

The astronomical prices are buoyed by a shortage of ultra-luxury apartments, according to brokers, as the world’s wealthiest people are moving assets right now. [more]

With the controversial Miki Naftali stepping down from the Plaza’s helm, the recent record $48 million sale of a 12th-floor spread, and the pre-Lehman-esque $37.5 million asking price on the penthouse unit, it appears the landmark building has steered clear of the financial storm. But according to the Observer, the Plaza is still stuck in choppy waters. The primary concern is the retail spaces on the coveted Fifth Avenue lot. The Oak Room is closing in July, the Palm Court, which opened last year, has already shuttered, the Edwardian Room has been looking for a new tenant for years and the Shops at the Plaza are mostly vacant, having already gone through two cycles of retailers. Prudential Douglas Elliman retail broker Faith Hope Consolo simply asked, “Why would you want to be in this maze when you could be on Fifth Avenue?” [more]

From left: Miki Naftali, the Plaza, 21 Astor Place and the Grand Madison

Miki Naftali has stepped down as CEO of Elad Properties, which owns the Plaza Hotel, the New York Post reported. Despite speculation that controversy in the Plaza Hotel led to his stepping down, Miki Naftali insisted that was not the case. Naftali, who forged the $675 million purchase of the Plaza in 2004, vacated his role to pursue a new venture that includes an investment in an undisclosed mixed-use space in the city. Naftali will hold on to a 49 percent stake in Elad Properties. According to the Post, insiders believed Naftali was under fire from his boss, Isaac Tshuva who owns Elad Properties’ parent company the Elad Group, because of an inability to land long-term tenants in the hotel’s restaurant and retail spaces. [more]

David Tepper and a view of the Sagaponack mansion he plans to demolishThis season’s hottest Hamptons real estate trend? Multi-million-dollar teardowns. According to the Post, some of New York’s most deep-pocketed buyers are planning demolitions of some of the East End’s priciest mansions. One such buyer is hedge fund manager David Tepper, who last May picked up a $43.5 million Sagaponack estate from Joanne Dougherty, the ex-wife of former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, in the Hamptons’ priciest sale of 2010. He’s rented out the home for the summer to billionaire Henry Silverman for $900,000, after which he plans to raze it. David Walentas is also giving his East End mansion one last hurrah before leveling the property. [more]

Libet Johnson, heiress to the Johnson & Johnson fortune and the sister of Jets owner Woody Johnson, has been exposed as the buyer of this year’s priciest residential sale to date, the Vanderbilt Mansion at 16 East 69th Street, for which she has just handed over upwards of $48 million. That price is also the highest paid for a Manhattan townhouse since the fall of Lehman Brothers in 2008. According to the Post, Johnson is a close friend of seller and fellow heiress Sloan Lindemann Barnett and her husband, beauty.com founder Roger Barnett, which explains why the couple was able to sell the mansion without a broker. [more]

The owners of the Plaza Hotel’s Oak Room have decided to close the legendary restaurant amid a bitter dispute with their landlord. According to the New York Times, Oak Room owner Eli Gindi gave the Plaza a 90-day notice of departure three weeks ago, after landlord Elad Group said the Oak Room would have to either cancel its lucrative “Day and Night” Saturday afternoon parties or pay more than twice its current rent. That brought lease negotiations to a halt, prompting Elad to sue Gindi for $33.3 million over “numerous violations of the lease, unacceptable activities and significant financial arrears.” [more]

Plaza Hotel landlord Elad Properties has filed a $33.3 million lawsuit against the owners of its famed Oak Room and Bar, decrying its recent lack of class. According to the Post, owners Jeffrey and Eli Gindi have allowed the reputation of the legendary eatery to falter, hosting regular Burlesque shows and encouraging “raucous and/or vulgar” behavior, loud music, and illegal drug use, in addition to failing a city health inspection and garnering less-than-stellar restaurant reviews, the suit alleges. [more]

An Upper East Side townhouse has just gone into contract to an anonymous buyer for upwards of $47 million, which would make for the priciest single-family home sale in New York City since the collapse of Lehman Brothers. According to the Wall Street Journal, the five-story, 33-foot-wide townhouse at 16 East 69th Street, once owned by the Vanderbilts, wasn’t officially listed. And after three years of quietly showing the mansion to prospective buyers, the owners — author and cell phone heiress Sloan Lindemann Barnett and her husband, Beauty.com founder Roger Barnett — have found one, sans broker, meaning that no one will be taking home a commission on what will surely be one of the city’s biggest deals of the year. [more]

The Trump International Hotel has agreed to let the Charlie Sheen “Torpedo of Truth” speed through during the 20-city tour’s New York and Connecticut legs. According to the Post, the tiger-blooded, former “Two and a Half Men” star and his posse checked into 12 rooms at the hotel yesterday and plan to stay four nights. It’s a #winning moment for Sheen, considering he had been barred from several top hotels in the city after trashing his room at the Plaza last year and causing $7,000 in damages. For that reason, Sheen had been rumored to be eyeing private residences for his return to town, but sources now say that was never true. Rooms at the Trump International can cost around $850 per night. [Post]