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Ed Koch's Legacy: His $475 Rent-Controlled Apartment Symbolized a Humble Public Servant

Colin Croughan — 2013-02-01T16:00:00 00:00

Filed under: News,Celebrity Homes,Renting

New York City is mourning the death of former Mayor Ed Koch, who already is being eulogized as one of its greatest mayors. His sharply witty tongue also earned him a national stage, and today we remember him not only for the political heights he achieved in his three terms leading the city but for his down-to-earth persona. One thing we'll never forget is this: The entire time Koch was in office (from 1977-89), he maintained a tiny $475 rent-controlled apartment in Greenwich Village.

Yes, the powerhouse political figure held onto his humble home at 14 Washington Place in Manhattan even as his public stage got bigger and bigger. This New York Times photo taken in 1978 shows Koch in his tiny little home as he spoke to reporters about his watch over the city. "I'm the sort of person who will never get ulcers," Koch said, according to the photo's caption. "Why? Because I say exactly what I think. I'm the sort of person who might give other people ulcers."

Well, we know he sure wasn't getting ulcers over the rent. The $475-a-month apartment cost Koch far less than the $1,200 a month it was worth at market rate at the time he lived there. (Rent-control laws place a ceiling on how much landlords can charge tenants for rent to keep prices stabilized.) Even so, Koch did live in Gracie Mansion, the official mayoral residence in New York. He kept paying for his Greenwich Village apartment on the side.

He originally planned to pass on living in Gracie Mansion, but changed his mind soon after being elected mayor. "I said to myself, 'Anybody who can live here and doesn't has got to be nuts," Koch told the Times of Gracie Mansion. "So I changed my mind. ... People who live there every day provide a warmth and a special air to that house. That makes it even more interesting to the people who live in this city." Current New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg disagreed, saying recently that Gracie Mansion belongs to the public and should not be used as a private mayoral residence.

See also:
John Lennon, Yoko Ono's 'Nutopian Embassy'
Rent Control: U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Hear NYC Case
How to Find the Best Deals on Rent

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John Lennon, Yoko Ono's 'Nutopian Embassy' in NYC Listed for $4.25 Million (House of the Day)

Colin Croughan — 2013-01-30T06:00:00 00:00

Filed under: News,Celebrity Homes,House of the Day

The historic townhouse in Manhattan that John Lennon and Yoko Ono used as the Nutopian Embassy -- the diplomatic headquarters of their "conceptual country" of Nutopia -- is up for sale for a very real $4.25 million, according to Curbed. It's a funny story: On April Fool's Day in 1973, the legendary couple announced that they were founding Nutopia, which "has no land, no boundaries, no passports, only people," Lennon said at a news conference that day. "Nutopia has no laws other than cosmic. All people of Nutopia are ambassadors of the country. As two ambassadors of Nutopia, we ask for diplomatic immunity and recognition in the United Nations of our country and its people."

Lennon and Ono gave the address of the townhouse at One White Street in Manhattan as the location of the Nutopian Embassy, even though the former Beatle and his conceptual-artist wife never lived there. Though the whole thing was born from their imaginations, a lot of people apparently took it seriously. Owners of the property since then reportedly have received mail addressed to Yoko Ono.

As The Real Deal pointed out, the townhouse hasn't retained many of its characteristics from Lennon and Ono's day. The place has been completely gutted since the last time it was bought -- in 2010 for $3.25 million. Nick Petkoff and Alex Liu of Massey Knakal Realty Services have the listing.

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See also:
10 Celebrity Homes That Have Stolen Our Hearts
Beatle George Harrison's Swiss Manor
The Rumored Residence of the Rolling Stones

See more Houses of the Day on AOL Real Estate.

Got a tip for House of the Day? Know of an exceptional or unusual property currently listed for sale? Please email colin.croughan@teamaol.com with your suggestions and be sure to include links to listing details and photos. (Due to the volume of response, we unfortunately are unable to reply to each submission.)

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Brian Cushing, Houston Texans Linebacker, Puts Home Up for Sale (House of the Day)

Colin Croughan — 2013-01-23T06:00:00 00:00

Filed under: News,Celebrity Homes,House of the Day

If you want to live like Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing, you'll have to be able to throw down more than a football: Try $1.3 million. Cushing might have been taken out of the 2012 NFL season early with a torn ACL, but he's still going for a touchdown in real estate. He's thrown his 7,007-square-foot Missouri City, Texas, house on the market.

Now's the perfect time for him to sell, really. He's been recovering from surgery after his injury, and honestly, what else is he going to do with his time? Give us some house porn, of course!

Here's what being an All-Pro affords you (aside from these six NFL stars' homes that were recently up for sale): Tucked away behind the gates of a secluded community, Cushing's five-bedroom, six-bathroom home features a marble-lined grand foyer that extends into a spacious common room and dining area. Perched above the foyer is a media room and game room with balcony views of a lake and the backyard pool. Our favorite part, though, is an in-house theater with a wet bar. They say everything's bigger in Texas -- and Cushing sure is going big with this listing!

See the listing for more details.

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Got a tip for House of the Day? Know of an exceptional or unusual property currently listed for sale? Please email krisanne.alcantara@huffingtonpost.com with your suggestions and be sure to include links to listing details and photos. (Due to the volume of response, we unfortunately are unable to reply to each submission.)

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