Can a free trip to outer space sell one of NYC’s priciest apartment listings?

Owner Daniel Neiditch has been trying to sell the apartment for five years -- and he hasn't yet budged on the price

Daniel Neiditch. (Credit from left: TRD, Pixabay)
Daniel Neiditch. (Credit from left: TRD, Pixabay)

Although one of New York’s most expensive apartment listings has languished for five years and counting, owner Daniel Neiditch’s got a new strategy he thinks will clinch the sale: space travel.

He’s still offering three luxury cars, a $1 million yacht (plus five years of docking fees) but now two seats on a Virgin Galactic space flight have been added to the mix, according to the New York Post — and all that comes in addition to more giveaways, including a year’s worth of free dinners at Daniel Boulud’s flagship restaurant, Brooklyn Nets season tickets, a live-in butler and private chef, and a free summer in the Hamptons.

“Someone not from New York can [move here and] have a New Yorker’s lifestyle and point of view,” Neiditch told the Post. “In a way, I’m offering my lifestyle.”

The giveaways attached to the luxury suite at 635 West 42nd Street bear more than a passing resemblance to Neiditch’s lifestyle; many of them are actually his, including the yacht, the house in the Hamptons, the cars, season tickets, and even the butler, according to the Post. Neiditch says it was just a part of creating an attractive package for the overseas buyer he seems to be seeking. He told the Post buyers from India have expressed interest having heard Indian millionaire Subhash Chandra bought a triplex in the building and he’s rejected a $50 million offer.

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Onlookers are skeptical the space trip and other perks will lure a buyer at Neiditch’s famously fixed price of $85 million.

“People only pile up giveaways when they won’t reduce the price. It has never made a lot of sense to me,” an unnamed Manhattan broker said to the Post.

Others take issue with the fact that the $85 million “penthouse” is actually 13 individual units– and they’re currently occupied by tenants who would be evicted with 30 days notice should a buyer appear. The buyer would have to pay for a major renovation to combine the apartments into one, for which Neiditch is giving a $2 million credit. Architect Peter Pennoyer told the Post that $7.5 million would be a “reasonable starting point” for the credit to actually ease the cost. [NYP]Erin Hudson

Correction: A previous version of the story incorrectly said the listing is New York’s priciest. It is one of the priciest.