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161 West 86th Street - Upper West Side
161 West 86th Street - Upper West Side
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161 West 86th Street

161 West 86th Street

Doorman co-op located in Upper West Side, between Columbus Avenue & Amsterdam Avenue

161 West 86th Street Location Map
  • Apartments For Sale (1)
  • Recent Sales (2) $933 Avg. price/ft2
  • All Units in Building (33)
Unit #
Beds
Baths
Size
Price / Ft2
Price
Listed on
Days on Market
Unit #
Beds
Baths
Size
Closing Price
Price / Ft2
Asking Price
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Overview of 161 West 86th Street

Built in 1914 and converted to a co-op in 1980, 161 West 86th Street is an elegant 12 story Italian Renaissance palazzo style building with 58 apartments. The building sits on a pleasant block between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues, adjacent to the Romanesque Revival West Park Presbyterian Church designed by Henry F. Kilburn in 1890. Located about 1.5 blocks from Central Park with convenient access to subway stations at both Central Park West and Broadway, the building offers excellent crosstown bus service and proximity to Columbus Avenue's popular sidewalk cafés.

The building is notable for its grand scale apartments, with the majority being 8 and 10 room homes spanning over 3,000 square feet. These expansive residences feature impressive prewar details including herringbone floors, soaring 9.5 to 11 foot ceilings, crown and picture frame moldings, original mahogany doors with period hardware, and decorative fireplaces. Many of the larger apartments include staff rooms or maids quarters, semi private elevator landings, and split layouts that provide excellent privacy. The building also contains a small number of one bedroom apartments, some of which were created by subdividing larger units. South facing apartments enjoy tree lined street views and abundant natural light.

161 West 86th Street operates in conjunction with 151 West 86th Street as a single cooperative with two entrances, both staffed with doormen. The building provides doorman service from 7am to 1am, a live-in superintendent, and maintains solid financials. Amenities include private storage bins assigned to each apartment, bicycle storage, and a landscaped roof garden with open city views. The building is pet friendly with board approval, permits up to 65% financing, and charges a flip tax of 15% of capital gains paid by the buyer.

Year Built
1914
Apartments
33
Floors
12
Neighborhood
Min Down
25%
33Apartments
View All Past
Sales & Rentals
in Building

Recent Updates

Community Board 7 rejects application to demolish West Park Presbyterian Church

Nov 12, 2025

In November 2025, Manhattan's Community Board 7 rejected an application to demolish the landmarked West Park Presbyterian Church on West 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. The church signed a contract to sell the 135-year-old building to developer Alchemy Properties in 2022 with plans to demolish the building and replace it with a 19-story apartment building with worship space. If the planned building went up, it would block the lot-line windows at 161 West 86th Street.

Amenities

  • Attended Lobby
  • PT Doorman
  • High-Rise
  • Pre War
  • Resident Storage
  • Central AC
  • Rooftop Terrace
  • Elevator
  • Laundry Room
  • Bike Room
  • Fireplaces
  • Live-In Superintendent
  • Staff Quarters
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Nearby Subways

  1. 1
at Broadway 0.13 miles
  1. B
  2. C
at Central Park West and 88th 0.30 miles
  1. 2
  2. 3
at Broadway and 95th 0.45 miles

Pros & Cons

  • Excellent public transportation
  • Close to Subway
  • Close to many restaurants with sidewalk cafes on Columbus Avenue
  • Handsome lobby
  • Pleasant street
  • Close to Central Park
  • Handsome- pre-war building
  • Landscaped roof garden with city views
  • Pet friendly with board approval
  • Private storage bins assigned to each apartment
  • Grand scale apartments over 3,000 square feet
  • High ceilings 9.5 to 11 feet
  • Herringbone hardwood floors
  • Original mahogany doors with period hardware
  • Decorative fireplaces
  • Crown and picture frame moldings
  • Semi private elevator landings
  • Staff rooms in larger apartments
  • Up to 65% financing allowed
  • Adjacent to attractive Romanesque Revival church
  • Part time doorman service 7am to 1am
  • No sidewalk landscaping
  • No Balconies
  • No garage
  • Doorman service ends at 1am

CityRealty Rating

18
/44
Architecture
+
19
/36
Location
+
11
/39
Features
=
48
CITYREALTY
RATING
  • How is the CityRealty Rating calculated?

    Architecture
    • 30+ remarkable
    • 20-29 distinguished
    • 11-19 average
    • < 11 below average
    Location
    • 27+ remarkable
    • 18-26 distinguished
    • 9-17 average
    • < 9 below average
    Features
    • 22+ remarkable
    • 16-21 distinguished
    • 9-15 average
    • < 9 below average

Sales History

Price/Room (Est)

Why are we displaying the estimated price per room?

For some co-ops, instead of price per square foot, we use an estimate of the number of rooms for each sold apartment to chart price changes over time. This is because many co-op listings do not include square footage information, and this makes it challenging to calculate accurate square-foot averages.

By displaying the price per estimated room count, we are able to provide a more reliable and consistent metric for comparing sales in the building. While we hope that this gives you a clearer sense of price trends in the building, all data should be independently verified. All data provided are only estimates and should not be used to make any purchase or sale decision.

Price/Ft2 (Est)
View Full Closing History

Sales History by Apartment Size

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