It was a cloudless lunchtime in midtown Manhattan the week before Memorial Day, and scores of workers in their worker-bee uniforms – white shirts and dark pants for the men, dresses for the women — carried cardboard and aluminum salad containers as they threaded their way through streets brimming with construction.
All of which underscores that while the remote-work genie is out of the bottle, many have had to go back to the office, at least a few days a week, as we bid adieu to the post-pandemic era.
Metro-North has seen ridership increase 12.1% from 2023 (60,141,495) to 2024 (67,389,907). Last October was the most successful ridership month of the post-pandemic era with 6,548,501 riders — a 16.2% increase from October 2023 (5,637,482). (Anecdotally, both Metro-North Harlem Line trains we took for this story – one peak, one off-peak – were packed.) According to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) latest report, Long Island Railroad ridership increased 6.3% in February 2025 compared to 2024 and is up 8.8% year to date.
Which brings us to the new Monogram New York, a building of condominium residences with a street level retail space, offering understated luxury in the heart of midtown (135 E. 47th St. between Lexington and Third avenues, two blocks from Grand Central Terminal’s 47th Street entrance).
“The way I look at it, Monogram New York has an interesting amenity and that is proximity,” Jordan Shea, director of sales, said over coffee in the sales office that is set up in one of the 35-story building’s 190 units. (Ranging from a 478-square-foot studio to a 1,674-square-foot penthouse, the condos start at $1,028,900 and go up to $5 million. To date, 70 have been sold or are under contract.)
Real estate and asset management firm Navigation Capital Group could’ve developed Monogram New York, which opened in the second half of last year, overlooking the East or Hudson Rivers, Shea continued. But then, its proximity would have been less, and proximity is what residents want. Indeed, the building is nestled in a rezoned, mixed-use neighborhood with easy access to dining, shopping, services and nightlife. And that, he added, makes it perfect for returning executives who are in the office several days a week and don’t want to go back to suburban homes late at night; or for those on the go seeking a no-fuss pied à terre, one that pays tribute to the Art Deco style, celebrating its 100th anniversary, that along with the 19th century’s Beaux Arts style and the mid-20th century’s International style has helped define New York City’s iconic skyline.
It’s no surprise, then, that among the sweeping views of the city – on a clear day, you can see as far east as the planes taking off from the transformed LaGuardia Airport and south as the silvery spire of One World Trade Center – is the commanding presence of the sleek, diamantine Chrysler Building, one of the finest examples of Art Deco architecture. Art Deco’s step-back design and fanciful crowning are echoed in Manhattan-based Ismael Leyva Architects'(ILA) https://ilarch.com/ crenellated metal, terra-cotta and enamel design for Monogram New York. Meanwhile Neri&Hu’s interiors are sparely elegant and comfortably contemporary with oak floors and cabinetry, Calacatta gold marble countertops in the kitchens and Carrara marble bathrooms.
“In everything we do, we aim to create an oasis that is welcoming and evokes a sense of warmth and comfort,” Rossana Hu, partner in Shanghai-based Neri&Hu, said in the handsome promotional book, and that aesthetic embraces her firm’s turnkey furnishings and design services.
Amenities include full-time concierge services, the Health Club, with a gym, movement studio and his and her spas; and The Sphere Club, which has a bar and lounge, a reading room with a fireplace and a dining room with a catering kitchen.
Think of it, Shea said, as a five-star hotel. Except now it can be your home.
