It’s official: luxury homes in NYC have gone full Real Housewives meets Bond lair…at least when it comes to their amenities. Luxe amenities in the city are becoming so lavish that even a Rockefeller would be impressed — all in an effort to get the very well-heeled in the door.
“When it comes to real estate and you’re a developer, how do you grab headlines? How do you reach pricing benchmarks that have never been reached before?” asks Ryan Kaplan, founder of The Kaplan Team, licensed associate real estate broker at Corcoran, and StreetEasy Expert. “Like so many things in life, it’s about innovation…look at our iPhones: the cameras keep getting better each time [a new generation comes out].”
NYC luxury amenities are no different. We chatted with real estate pros to get a peek into the wild world of New York’s most over-the-top amenities. Reader beware: you may experience envy.
From the mic to the pickleball court to the infrared sauna
Whether it’s your side gig or how you pay the rent, you won’t have to worry about proper lighting or the ambient sounds of NYC at Pearl & Pine, a luxury rental building in the Financial District. Residents can make use of The Creator’s Suite, a dedicated multimedia production space for recording your podcast, filming social media videos, making music, or staging a photoshoot. The suite has the technical infrastructure and acoustic treatment for the job (or passion project).
When it’s time to pivot to fitness, Pearl & Pine’s two-floor fitness center offers cardio and weight areas, spaces for yoga and stretching, and private training rooms. The dedicated sports and recreation floor features a pickleball court and other games, for everything from friendly competition with your neighbors to serious workouts.
And there are more floors to explore: cool off on the wellness level, where you’ll find a Himalayan pink salt room, traditional and infrared saunas, hot and cold plunge pools, and a relaxing lounge. That’s right — you can start your day with a cold plunge before the New York grind, and end it with a nice shvitz.
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High Line-inspired serenity
Your building may have a garden, but does it have a zen garden? Along the steps to the rooftop terrace at The Bergen, offering luxury rentals in Boerum Hill, lies a tranquil zen garden inspired by NYC’s very own High Line. Picture yourself meditating on the steps on a sunny morning, as even the most petulant city noises and distractions bounce right off you. And the roof deck? It’s just as serene with Japanese maple trees, cushy lounge furniture, an outdoor kitchen, and breathtaking skyline vistas. It even has a dedicated fitness area for outdoor workouts without leaving the building.
Life at The Bergen also includes a state-of-the-art fitness center, a huge indoor lounge with floor-to-ceiling windows (some of which face the zen garden), a full-service lobby, concierge services, and on-site laundry. When life gets loud, you can always retreat back upstairs for a little calm.
Fresh greens – no green thumb required
If your building doesn’t offer IV drips on demand, is it even luxe? And that’s only the tip of the wellness iceberg.
“One of the most unique things that I’ve seen was at the Waterline Square complex, which is on the Upper West Side border with Lincoln Square,” says Kaplan. “They had a communal garden underground and you had all of this produce that was being nurtured by synthetic sunlight or something. So if you were making dinner for that night, you could go down to the complex’s underground garden and get fresh vegetables or fruit for your cooking, which was very cool.” Operated by a third party within the 100,000-square-foot Waterline Club, the hydroponic garden grows herbs and greens for residents to collect each week. That’s one luxury amenity that would appeal to even Gwyneth Paltrow.
Five-star hotel living, minus the check-out time
Iconic heiress Eloise may have lived large with her nanny at The Plaza Hotel in Kay Thompson’s 1955 book, but even she would be delighted by all the new five star hotel-level perks that are now available in luxury NYC buildings. “There are a couple major buildings that have private restaurants in them, which is very cool because it turns your home into a hybrid almost private club where you can entertain and bring someone to a restaurant, whether it’s a business meeting or a social outing…that they wouldn’t be able to get into otherwise unless they were also owners of the building,” says Kaplan. And yes, before you ask: “Some of them do have room service, essentially,” he notes.
Geoffrey Gottlieb, licensed real estate salesperson for The Gottlieb Team with Christie’s International Real Estate Group and StreetEasy Expert, touts Club 111 at Steinway Tower at 111 West 57th Street. Residents of the property get “daily complimentary breakfast by Le Bilboquet, along with exclusive in-residence dining and catering options,” Gottlieb says.
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Ever want to check into the Four Seasons and never leave? Kaplan has a solution for that, too. “I’m currently marketing one of the penthouses at 30 Park Place in Tribeca, which is the ultimate, because the top, call it third or half of the building are these very high-end condos in Tribeca, but the bottom is the Four Seasons Hotel.” Translation: “You get all of the hotel amenities even though you’re [at home],” Kaplan says. “So if you want to call and get maid service to clean your apartment or room service from the Wolfgang Puck restaurant downstairs,” you can. “It’s truly living in a five-star hotel and having those kinds of services at your discretion.”
The Gilded Age 2.0
Cheers to living like Jay Gatsby — but with better HVAC. Some towers are basically private clubs disguised as apartments. Another of Gottlieb’s favorites: Central Park Tower at 217 West 57th Street.
“It is the tallest residential tower on the planet, with stunning benchmark-setting finishes,” he says. “It features The Central Park Club, with nearly 50,000 square feet of elite, hotel-inspired amenities and services. The club is designed to accommodate every type of celebration and social gathering, offering an exceptional array of amenities — including a 60-foot outdoor swimming pool and a stylish cabana deck. Soaring 1,000 feet above the city sits the highest grand ballroom and private restaurant ever constructed in New York. The corner sky lounge offers an intimate wine cellar and cigar humidor. Residents are treated to Michelin-star dining overlooking Central Park.” It’s less pied-à-terre, more palace in the sky — with 24-hour white glove concierges to match.
Playgrounds for grown-ups
In addition to its indoor gardening studio, the Waterline Square complex is home to among the most substantial luxury amenity packages Kaplan has seen in the city, he says. “They have room for a lot of things, including a half pipe for skateboarding and an influencer room: a room designated for people to film content, whether it’s podcasts or TikToks or Instagram Reels.” Not to mention the bowling alley; indoor tennis, squash, and basketball courts; recording studio complete with musical instruments; and much more.
It’s now very possible to invest in so much more than square footage, but an entire lifestyle. Private wellness sanctuaries, chef’s kitchens in the clouds, jazz clubs on standby…luxury amenities are all part of the package. The rest of us? We’ll be here scrolling StreetEasy, manifesting in-unit laundry and a doorman who says hello.
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