Melo, Kardashian eye Alpine, N.J. real estate

The latest stop on New York Knick Carmelo Anthony’s East Coast real estate search isn’t in Soho or designed by the Novogratz clan, but in — gasp! — New Jersey. According to the Daily News, Anthony’s wife, La La Vazquez, has been hunting for apartments in the tony neighborhood of Alpine, where former Knicks center Patrick Ewing also has a home. Vazquez and Anthony, who married last July, are said to be looking for a respite from the city so that their three-year-old son, Kiyan, can grow up in a quieter neighborhood. Vazquez has been teaming up with reality star pal Kim Kardashian for the apartment search, and the pair is reportedly looking to buy units in the same building so that they can keep each other company. But Kardashian, who was renting a unit at the Smyth hotel this past summer while preparing for the launch of her and her sisters’ Soho store, Dash, may still land on this side of the river. She recently told E! Online that “it’s obvious that a place in New York would be the next step.” [NYDN]