For the past couple of decades, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has been oh-so-casually buying up the units at 19 East 79th Street, the Beaux Arts townhouse that sits next to his current palatial residence at 17 East 79th Street. The five-story building has six units, and as of now, Bloomberg owns five of them. According to the New York Observer, he snapped up unit three for $14 million, which just leaves one holdout in the building.
What he'll do with those apartments—or, for that matter, the building—is anyone's guess, though an enormous megamansion seems very likely. Bloomberg isn't the only ultra-wealthy mogulembracing the Frankenhome trend lately; Madonna is the most famous person to build one, but Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has been trying to make his own enormous multi-house compound—though the Landmarks Preservation Commission hasn't been enthusiastic about his plan.