Ira and George Gershwin created beautiful music that defined the American Jazz Age — and for a time, the brothers did so while living side by side in adjacent penthouses on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
Now, Ira’s three-bedroom, 3½-bath residence at 33 Riverside Drive is on the market for $5.19 million — a drop from what the sellers paid for it almost a decade ago.
The roomy 2,000-square-foot residence last traded in 2016 for $5.99 million.
Born in Brooklyn to Russian-Jewish immigrants, the Gershwin brothers lived in the building from 1929 until 1933, and often hosted A-list parties attended by up-and-coming stars such as Ethel Merman.
Ira wrote the lyrics — and won a Pulitzer Prize — for “Of Thee I Sing,” while George composed the music. They also wrote “Porgy and Bess” with DuBose Heyward and George, of course, also composed classics like “Rhapsody in Blue,” “An American in Paris” and the “Concerto in F.”
Their onetime building, on the northeast corner of Riverside and West 75th Street, was built from the ground up in 1927, replacing a five-story home where Sergei Rachmaninoff, the famed Russian composer and pianist, lived with his wife Natalia for four years during the early 1920s. That became a home away from home for other Russian artists, including Konstantin Stanislavsky and his Moscow Art Theatre when they visited in 1922, according to reports.
Past residents in the Gershwins’ building also include the late actor Charles Grodin, who sold his 10th-floor unit in 2019, via a trust, for $2.51 million — slightly over his $2.49 million ask, according to property records.
Ira’s former co-op opens from a private elevator landing. A large living room with picture windows and French doors leads to the 1,000-square-foot wrap terrace — with sweeping city and Hudson River views.
There’s also a formal dining room with a large window and custom built-ins and a windowed eat-in kitchen. The fourth bedroom can also serve as a home office. Design details include hardwood floors, crown moldings and recessed lighting.
Douglas Elliman’s Ann Cutbill Lenane has the listing.
