From Luxury Listings NYC: This story is for everyone who was ever rejected from a club or social group or lunch table. The co-op board of the River House, An Art Deco Building Off The East River On 52nd Street once rejected the billionaire Wilbur Ross Jr. in the mid-1990s from buying an apartment. Now, he’s back for revenge and has just purchased a beleaguered apartment in the building with his wife Hilary Geary for $7.8 million.
The apartment was the home for 46-years of Arlene Farkas, who was engaged in a nasty battle for it for 18 years with her ex-husband (the heir to the Alexander department store chain, Bruce Farkas). She listed the home in 2008 for $15 million, but the co-op board kept rejecting everyone who put a bid on it. Finally, she had to declare bankruptcy in February, allowing Ross to swoop in And Buy The Place for almost half of the original asking price. [more]