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MORNING MESSAGE

Sam Pizzigati

Have We Hit Peak Decadence In The United States?

Have we hit peak decadence in the United States? Probably not. But we’re getting awfully close. The latest evidence just may be the “super-penthouse.” To rate as “super,” a penthouse has to span at least 10,000 square feet, take up the top floor — or floors — of a residential tower, and offer “unimpeded 360-degree views” of the city down below. The undisputed epicenter of the emerging global super-penthouse scene is Manhattan: On “billionaire’s row,” eight super-penthouses now tower (way) above New York’s fabled Central Park. Manhattan makes an ideal home base for the super-penthouse surge: The world’s original “penthouses” date back to early 1920s New York and architect Emery Roth. This famed designer put luxury accommodations atop two new 15-story twin towers at the corner of Broadway and 82nd Street. By 1998, developer Donald Trump could ask and get $100,000 a month for his penthouse atop the 45th-story of the Trump International Hotel and Tower. Now, with Donald Trump in the White House, $100,000 a month won’t get a foot in the door of the hot new super-penthouse market. In Miami Beach, the asking price for a six-bedroom, two-infinity-pool super is running $68 million. But real decadence doesn’t come from rooftop infinity pools alone. Real decadence comes only when those atop our new needle towers can look down from their lofty perches and not make out the homeless men and women sleeping on the streets so far below.


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