The blood sport that is New York real estate is rife with billion-dollar feuds. There’s a story behind every eye-popping apartment sale and audacious new development in New York City, and many of those tales involve the uber-wealthy behaving badly.
Some of the most consequential stories of Manhattan’s evolution into a playground for the global one percent are now being told for the very first time in The Real Deal’s new book, “The New Kings of New York: Renegades, Moguls, Gamblers and the Remaking of the World’s Most Famous Skyline.”
Written by award-winning journalist and longtime TRD contributor Adam Piore, the book features insider accounts from the developers, politicians, investors and financiers who are most responsible for the way the city has shaped up in the new millennium — for better and for worse. It will hit bookshelves April 12, but can be pre-ordered now.
In our latest installment of Coffee Talk, Piore sat with TRD editor-in-chief Stuart Elliott and gave us a taste of what’s to come. His favorites among the dramatis personae of real estate include Related’s Steve Ross and golden boy Kent Swig. With the keen eye of a seasoned journalist, Piore profiles the bombastic Ross, who moved to New York the day after Bobby Kennedy was shot, was fired from two jobs, and went on to be among the most influential developers in New York real estate history.
Watch the interview here for more on this, Swig’s ice bucket incident, and other colorful tales from the industry.
“The New Kings of New York” also includes detailed accounts from other icons of the industry, like Extell’s Gary Barnett, former deputy mayor Dan Doctoroff and other bigwigs, speaking candidly about how they transformed the city. It also features the definitive account of the rise and fall of Kent Swig, as well as the extraordinary behind-the-scenes success story of Fortress Investment Group.
Veteran real estate reporter and author of “Other People’s Money,” Charles Bagli, said that the “The New Kings of New York” belongs “alongside ‘Skyscraper Dreams’ and ‘Working-Class New York’ on the shelves of serious students of the city.
Vicky Ward, author of “The Liar’s Ball,” said “it’s rare for a book about real estate to read like a thriller — but this does.”