The Dakota. Inset: Yoko Ono in 2011 (background removed) by Earl McGehee – www.ejmnet.com via Wikimedia Commons
Few public figures are as synonymous with the Upper West Side as Yoko Ono. The 90-year-old has called the hallowed halls of The Dakota home since 1973, when she and late husband John Lennon moved into a spacious spread on the seventh floor.
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Lennon’s life was famously cut short at the hands of crazed Beatles fan Mark David Chapman in the Dakota’s archway back in December 1980, but Ono has continued to reside in their nine-room abode — until now. The Daily Mail was the first to report that after years of illness, Ono quietly decamped to a Franklin, New York farm which spans a whopping 600 acres with no plans of returning to the Big Apple. That said, her legendary apartment has yet to hit the market.
The Dakota, located at 1 West 72nd Street and Central Park West, is known as one of the first luxury apartment houses in New York City. The Renaissance Revival structure was designed by architect Henry Janeway Hardenbergh and constructed between 1880 and 1884. The nine-story building is perhaps best known for its lavish stone detailing, eye-catching roofs and massive l-shaped courtyard, which was originally intended for horse-drawn carriages.
It first opened to the public as a series of upscale rental units, with yearly pricing between $1,500 and $5,000. In November 1961, it became a cooperative. It quickly cemented its status as a favorite for artists and celebrities, with notable residents including Lauren Bacall, Leonard Bernstein, Roberta Flack, Judy Garland, Joe Namath, Paul Simon and more. The uber picky co-op board has rejected a series of high-profile people over the years too, including Cher, Billy Joel and Madonna.
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Of course, no two people define The Dakota lifestyle more than Lennon and Ono — and Strawberry Fields, the memorial dedicated to the English music icon and peace activist a stone’s throw away from the front steps, is proof.
There are currently three units for sale at The Dakota, ranging from $9.5 million to $20 million, a far cry from the rental pricing of 1884. Strawberry Fields forever!
Let’s not write off Yoko as an UWSer quite yet. Yes, she is going to spend most of her remaining time at their Upstate farm. But her apartments are not yet listed, or even pre-listed (the apartments mentioned in the article are not hers). And there is no way she will get some of the medical care she needs in a rural community; she will need to be in the City for any such care. As a general matter, UWSers go to live in “second homes” for long periods all the time; that doesn’t mean they are no longer UWSers.
Yoko has been an UWSer for decades. And she will remain one until she joins John again.
Well said/
The article mentions the cost of the apartments in The Dakota but it’s the monthly fees that will kill you. The cheapest ($9.5MM) currently listed has monthly maintenance fees of $14,626. Of course, if you’re buying in the Dakota I’m sure that’s not your greatest concern. lol
I assume Sean will continue to own it after she’s gone.
Yoko owns between five and seven apartments. One of them is Sean’s. She or th estate may choose to sell the others. 🙁
Yoko is going to her farm near Franklin, NY. She will be close to Fox, Bassett, and Albany Medical. She doesn’t have to be in NYC unless she wants to.
she got more money than the state of New york x 1500 – not bad for a sexy little advant garde artist. It’s a real shame that we don’t know what happens aften we leave here. Hope John has sorted dirty dicky nixon out.
Chapman becoming a household name is a f disgrace though. All generations should hold their heads in shame. manchunian proxy or not the absolute scum bag used dum dum bullets and shot ‘someone’ in cold blood from behind 5 times. Dum Dum (hollow point) bullets explode on impact causing the maximum amount of damage possible and renedering it almost impossible to survive.
John RIP 42 years on
WHAT IS YOKO ONOS ADDRESS UP AT FRANKLIN NY? WANT TO SEND GET WELL CARDS.
Yoko still keeps her apartment(s) at the Dakota, and Sean still has his as well. You can send cards to her at the Dakota address and her assistant will bring them up to her. Or, given that the entire population of Franklin, NY is less than 300, you could probably address it simply to: Yoko Ono, Franklin, NY, 13775.