Main Image: Coldwell Banker Warburg. Inset: Peabody Awards via Wikimedia Commons
From 1983 until his death in 2005, legendary anchorman Peter Jennings hosted ABC World News Tonight from the ABC News Headquarters in Lincoln Square. Once off the clock, he was able to stroll a few blocks home to his palatial digs at 101 Central Park West — and now, his widow, Kayce Freed Jennings, has put the pad up for sale.
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The traditional “classic nine” co-op — in a pre-war Neo-Renaissance behemoth of a building between 70th and 71st streets — has hit the market to the tune of $10.45 million. Spanning a whopping 3,600 square feet, the 11th floor corner unit boasts coveted Central Park views, nine elegantly appointed rooms renovated for modern living (with ample storage areas for the late news icon’s 16 Emmy statuettes), a wood-burning fireplace and sky-high ceilings. The three large bedrooms all have en suite bathrooms (there are five total), and retro wood paneling is featured throughout.
The grand scale of the space makes it ideal for entertaining, which the couple did plenty of after moving in back in 1998. “The layout is exceptional,” Ms. Jennings told The Wall Street Journal. “The apartment is really well designed for that.” After approximately 25 years of residing in the ultra-luxe abode, she plans to downsize.
Photo: Coldwell Banker Warburg
Photo: Coldwell Banker Warburg
Photo: Coldwell Banker Warburg
Located on a particularly tony stretch of Central Park West next to The Majestic, the building offers the standard slew of amenities one would expect from an apartment house of this caliber: 24-hour doormen, concierge service, a swanky fitness center, a bike room, basement storage… you get the idea. A monthly maintenance bill of $9,548 keeps the wheels turning.
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There are two other active listings in the 94-unit structure (designed by famed architects Schwartz & Gross), including a smaller corner unit more modestly priced at $5.7 million.
Other famous residents past and present of 101 Central Park West include Harrison Ford, media heiress and equestrian Georgina Bloomberg and Ghostbusters actor Rick Moranis, who was sucker punched mere steps from his longtime home back in 2020.
The listing brokers are Bonnie Chajet and Lisa Chajet of Coldwell Banker Warburg. Check out the full listing here.
Much better photos than most real estate marketing.
From all accounts, i.e. friends of his who also knew me and ABC news updates along the way, it was the tragic aftermath of 9/11 that caused Peter Jennings, who had quit smoking cold turkey for several years prior, to start up again with a vengeance. Terminal lung cancer and emphysema were just around the corner and they caught up with him. My wife was admitted to Sloan Kettering around the same time as Peter Jennings. Sadly, Dana Morosini Reeves, Chris Reeves widow, had also been admitted to Sloan-Kettering with lung cancer although she never smoked — it was thought to be related to her singing in clubs and bars where (before Bloomberg’s tough stance of restaurant/in-door smoking) smoking was not only tolerated but, some would say, encouraged. As we know now, second-hand smoke is just as toxic as inhaling directly from a cigarette. My wife’s cancer was the result of an oral cancer that went misdiagnosed for enough time (6 months) for it to metastasize to her lungs. So, even with having 2 1/2 lobes subsequently removed – half our lung capacity – chemo and radiation with fentanyl patches worn for the pain, she did not make it. My wife died 12 days after Dana in 2006. Our only child was 10 years old. My wife was one year ahead of Dana in school but remembered her beautiful, “angelic voice” from both of them being in the Glee Club at Edgemont Junior-Senior High School outside Scarsdale, NY. Such a small world and cancer figures into so much of it.
So sorry.
Pete’s is still a fishbowl.
We bought a place, $3.4 Million, far less money than they’re asking here at Peter’s joint and we finagled and begged and scraped… and moved in just in time.
But now? I’m sorry we bought here.
Immediately following our closing, the scaffolding and netting went up, nearly completely obscuring our $3 and 1/2 Million views. The men peering in like big eyed carp made us feel we were in a fishbowl. My girl didn’t feel comfortable.
And the covered street made for great hideouts for the lethal and felonious intentioned of some of our city’s less fortunate.
The detritus and human fall out from the scaffolding significantly has contributed to the UWS’ exploding vermin/rat population, the black plastic bags of tenant garbage stacked and torn open offering the rodents and alloy can pickers rewards beyond.
Then, as the the pandemic waned, the streets were dirtier and the building repair mob finally sourced a stone for our penthouse parapet somewhere outside Palermo or Napoli that matched.
The scaffolding came down 2 years after it went up and we struck off to the country.
Getting caught on our reverse commute to the city on odd weekends got us fired up to have a toe back in the city. Mortgage Payments were catching us up and we were focusing more again at our city jobs. Now, ConEd’s big project on the Avenue out front has started in earnest, they’ve been out there working under 6 steel plate covers that take up no more space than a tennis court. For over a year and a half. Donny Trumptardo coulda put up a 120 story building with a public skating rink in less time!
The action begins 7 days a week at 6AM and it seems like they’ve dug it up, back-filled it in, dug it up, back fill it in, do a lot of steel plate cutting at 6 AM Sunday morning, block off the street, block all the parking, block Uber, block the crosswalk and Christ it’s dusty, dirty, noisy and smelly. Sometimes they cut through the wrong pipe and we lose water service for a day… I mean seriously. This is what you get for $3.4million. And guess what?
We are coming up on the next building inspection period and looky here! Here comes the scaffolding again.
So, in summary, what was supposed to be 10 months of scaffolding went out to 2 years. Then the endless major street construction began- perfect timing as now the street noise had no scaffolding or netting to muffle the noise. And man alive, it IS A WHOLE LOTTA NOISE!
I know this is a ramble and I know there are a ton of wonderful reasons that make NYC great, but my sad opinion is it’s shittier now than it’s ever been- is it even worth living in town anymore?
I think our joint will be on the market soon and we’ll become a couple of those “BBQ” out of towners that block your arteries, jam your bars and restaurants and smile a lot more than you.