• Washington power lobbyists and Democratic insiders Tony and Heather Podesta have been busy bees since Barack Obama was elected last fall. According to a report earlier this week, the couple's separate lobbying firms have racked up $25 million in fees thus far in 2009. Now they're spending some of their earnings, it seems: The couple has picked up New York pied-à-terre, paying $3.247 million for a sixth-floor apartment at the Sohmer Piano Building at 170 Fifth Avenue. [Cityfile]
• Four months after it was pulled off the market, the Sloane Mansion on 68th Street has a new listing and a new broker. The 104-year-old mansion, which was purchased by bankers Joseph Ingrassia and John Rice III for $20 million in 2007 and was offered for $64 million last year, is now in the hands of Corcoran's Leighton Candler. And it's almost half the price it was a year ago. The new listing has it priced at $39 million. [NYO, Corcoran]
• A one-bedroom co-op at the Sherry-Netherland has gone on the market for $9.5 million with Brown Harris Stevens broker Richard Wallgren. [NYO]

Bernie Madoff's East 64th Street penthouse didn't attract any buyers at $9.9 million. How does a more modest $8.9 million sound? Did we mention the "elliptical staircase" and the "sun-flooded rooms"? Or the "tremendous wrap-around planted and irrigated terrace"? Or the fact that Mr. Matt Lauer will be your downstairs neighbor? Get moving, people. A "sophisticated" and impeccably renovated apartment" at this price won't last long. [Curbed]

• Actress Kristen Johnston has closed on the sale of her duplex at 296 West 10th Street. The two-bedroom apartment with a solarium and terrace, which Johnston listed for $1.795 million in June and went into contract to sell in August, sold for $1.7 million to costume designers John Orberg and Janet Kuhl. [Cityfile]
• Jamie Drake, the interior designer who counts Mayor Bloomberg as one of his clients, has put his 6,200-square-foot home in East Hampton on the market for $2.9 million. [Newsday, Mercedes/Berk]
• Armon Bar-Tur, a managing director at SafeHarbor Capital Partners, and his wife Rebecca, have found a buyer for their townhouse at 92 Charles Street. The four-bedroom home, which the couple bought for $6 million in 2006 and listed for $14.95 million in October, has gone into contract after less than a month on the market. [Curbed, Corcoran]
• Private eye Bo Dietl has gone into contract to sell his Manhasset home. The five-bedroom home, which the former cop and occasional TV commentator bought for $2.3 million in 2004 and listed for $3.295 million in August, is reportedly selling for "just over $3 million." [Newsday, PDE]

• Paolo Pellegrini, the white-hot hedge fund manager who started his own firm last year after working for billionaire John Paulson, has closed on the purchase of a 3,500-square-foot apartment at 88 Central Park West. Pellegrini and his wife Henrietta paid $9 million for the co-op, down from the $10.995 million asking price that owners Ray Errol Fox and Jean Thomas were seeking. The apartment was first listed in May 2008 for $12.995 million. [Cityfile, Stribling]
• Victoria's Secret president Ed Razek has sold his UES pied-à-terre. Razek sold his one-bedroom co-op at 32 East 64th Street for $2.25 million. [Cityfile]
• Deborah Doyle McWhinney, who was appointed as the head of Citi's Personal Wealth Management division this spring, has picked up a new apartment. McWhinney paid $2.88 million for a co-op at 25 East 86th Street. [Cityfile]

DJ AM's Lafayette Street apartment hasn't gone up for sale yet, but his Beverly Hills house can now be yours for $3.795 million. Real Estalker has the photos and details. [Real Estalker]

• Thomas Renyi, who retired as chairman and CEO of the Bank of New York last year, has picked up an apartment at 920 Fifth Avenue. And he got a good deal, too. Renyi and his wife, Elizabeth, paid $7.55 million for the three-bedroom apartment, which is $2.55 million less than what it was first listed for in April 2008. [Cityfile]
• Software mogul Marty Sprinzen has found a buyer for his 4,552-square-foot apartment at 838 Fifth Avenue. The ninth-floor residence, which Sprinzen bought for $15.8 million in 2007 and put on the market for $24.5 million in May, went into contract to sell late last week. [NYO, BHS]
• The Hampshire House apartment once owned by the late Wall Street titan Zalman Bernstein is back on the market at a hefty discount. The 25th-floor residence, which became the subject of a lawsuit between Bernstein's daughter and the co-op's board in 2007, first went on the market for $17.5 million that same year. Now, after two years and four price chops, the apartment is once again for sale and is now priced at $11.5 million. [Cityfile, BHS]

• Less than two months after investor and philanthropist Ephraim Gildor put his duplex penthouse at the Park Laurel back on the market for $28 million, it looks like he's already found a buyer. The 7,758-square-foot apartment with seven bedrooms and terrace went into contract late last week. [Cityfile, PDE]
• Hedge fund manager Steve Eisman, who took a loss on the sale of his old apartment at 1125 Park Avenue back in August, has picked up something new. He's closed on a four-bedroom penthouse duplex at 1120 Park Avenue for $7.4 million, which is 36 percent less than the original asking price. [NYT]
• Christopher Nixon Cox, the grandson of Richard Nixon, has sold his two-bedroom apartment at 10 East 70th Street for $1.4 million. [Curbed]
• Renowned sculptor Louise Bourgeois has been identified as the buyer behind the purchase of costume designer William Ivey Long's townhouse on West 20th Street. Bourgeois' Easton Foundation picked up the building for $4.75 million and will reportedly use it as an exhibition space and archive for Bourgeois' collection of books and film. [NYT]

• Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch has closed on the purchase of an apartment on the 46th-floor of One Beacon Court. It's located next door to the apartment he already owns. And the legendary exec—who just got out of the hospital a couple of weeks ago—scored a pretty good deal, too: Welch paid $8.3 million for the apartment, or nearly $1 million less than what it was first listed for back in February. [Cityfile, previously]
• Kimora Lee Simmons has dropped the price of her blingtastic mansion in Saddle River, NJ. The four-acre estate, which first went on the market for $23 million last year, is now listed for just $16.5 million. [NYP, Sotheby's]
• Restaurant mega-publicist and Iron Chef America judge Karine Bakhoum has put her co-op at 205 East 69th Street on the market. The three-bedroom pad with fireplace and chef's kitchen is listed for $2.35 million. [NYP, Halstead]

• Israeli-born entrepreneur Beny Alagem has closed on the sale of his three-bedroom apartment at 15 Central Park West. The 15th-floor condo, which Alagem and his wife Adele bought for $15.4 million in April 2008 and listed for $24 million last June, ended up selling for $19.9 million. The buyer is Stuart Peterson, the president of Silicon Valley's Artis Capital Management. Peterson, who made a fortune as an early investor in YouTube, set the record for purchasing the most expensive home in Bay area in 2006. [Cityfile]
• Armon Bar-Tur, a managing director at SafeHarbor Capital Partners, and his wife Rebecca, have put their townhouse at 92 Charles Street on the market. The four-bedroom home, which the couple picked up for $6 million in 2006, is now listed for $14.5 million. [Curbed, Corcoran]
• Renowned Broadway costume designer William Ivey Long has sold his Chelsea townhouse. The restored home at 349 West 20th Street, which Ivey bought back in 1994, sold for $4.75 million. [Cityfile]

• The buyer who plunked down $9.41 million on Bernie and Ruth Madoff's oceanfront home in Montauk home has been revealed: It's billionaire real estate mogul Steve Roth and his wife, Broadway producer Daryl Roth. [WSJ]
• Alexander Navab, a partner at KKR and co-head of the firm's private equity business in North America, has paid $4.9 million for a two-bedroom co-op at the River House on East 52nd Street. Meanwhile, his four-bedroom spread just a few floors up remains on the market for $24.5 million. [Cityfile]
• The Minetta Lane townhouse owned by late party planner Robert Isabell has been reduced in price since first going on the market for $3.95 million. The 2,813-square-foot building, which features a "basement hand-chipped by Tibetan-born sherpas from Brooklyn," is now $3.45 million. [Curbed, MK]

• Jann Wenner and his partner, Matt Nye, will soon be moving into new digs in Montauk. The founder of Rolling Stone and publisher of Us Weekly and Men's Journal is paying $11.9 million for a 6,300-square-foot home on Old Montauk Highway. The waterfront property had been been originally listed for $14.9 million. [NYP, Corcoran]
• Whitney Houston has put her New Jersey home on the market. The 12,561-square-foot manse in Mendham Township is listed for $2.5 million; her guest cottage next door is no longer available, however. [Real Estalker, CB]
• Real estate developer Ara Hovnanian may have found a buyer for his fourth-floor apartment at 820 Fifth Avenue. Five months after the co-op's board rejected Jeff Blau's $31 million offer, the board has reportedly given the go-ahead to Ken Griffin, the CEO of Chicago-based Citadel Investment Group. The hedge fund billionaire is expected to pay "just under" $35 million. [NYP]
• It looks like Katie Lee is getting the West Village townhouse as part of her split from Billy Joel. The cookbook author is paying Joel $3 million for his share of the the Perry Street home, which the couple purchased in 2005 for $5.9 million. [NYO]

• Nearly five years after putting his New Jersey home up for sale for $30 million, Eddie Murphy has slashed $15 million off the asking price of 5-acre estate in Englewood. The 25,000-square-foot Colonial-style mansion, which features a bowling alley, theater, racquetball court, indoor pool, elevator, carriage house and recording studio, can now be yours for $14.99 million. [NYDN, Sotheby's]
• Fashion designer Adam Lippes is trying to sell his penthouse at 37 West 12th Street. According to the listing (which describes the apartment's owner as "a young rising star of NYC fashion"), the two-bedroom pad was designed by Eve-Lynn Schoenstein and David Schefer and has been featured in Elle Decor. It's currently on the market for $5.75 million. [Cityfile, Corcoran]
• More than a year after art dealer Daniel Wildenstein sold his family's mansion at 11 East 64th Street for $42.5 million, the 29-foot-wide townhouse has reportedly gone back on the market for $37 million with Carrie Chiang. [NYO]
• Michael and Amanda Salzhauer have sold their 10th floor apartment at 860 Park Avenue for $7.7 million. Michael is a principal at the real estate firm Benjamin Partners; Amanda is the daughter of Steve Roth, the billionaire chairman and CEO of Vornado Realty Trust, and his wife Daryl. [Cityfile]

• One month after he unloaded his Greenwich mansion for $18.7 million, former Goldman Sachs partner Donald Opatrny has shed himself of his apartment at 15 Central Park West, too. The 35th floor, three-bedroom condo, which Opatrny purchased for $11.6 million in January 2008 and listed for $26 million in June 2009, sold for $21.5 million to an unidentified buyer. [Real Deal]
• Bobby Flay and wife Stephanie March have a new Hamptons home in mind. The couple paid $1.485 million for a 2.89-acre parcel of land in Amagansett, where they're reportedly planning to build a "green" home. [Newsday]
• Steve Madden is spreading out at 175 East 73rd Street. The footwear mogul has paid $2.2 million for a second co-op in the five-story building. Three years ago, he paid $3.6 million for the apartment next door. [Cityfile]

• A month after it was reported that Bernie Madoff's Montauk home had gone into contract, an unidentified buyer has closed on the purchase of the oceanfront manse. The five-bedroom, 3,000-square-foot home, which had been listed for $8.75 million, ended up selling for $9.41 million. [ABC, NYDN]
• Writer/director John Ridley has finally unloaded his condo at 15 Central Park West. The 2,237-square-foot pad, which Ridley bought for $6.65 million in July 2008 and listed for $13 million just a few days later, has sold for $8 million to a company listed in property records as Moral Hole LLC. [Cityfile]
• Oil exec Tom Edelman has placed his 11-room apartment at 770 Park Avenue back on the market, albeit for quite a bit less than when he last put it up for sale a year and a half ago. The eighth-floor co-op, which Edelman listed for $16.75 million after picking up a bigger apartment at 775 Park, is now being offered for $11 million with Brown Harris Stevens' John Burger. [NYT, BHS]
• Late fashion designer Abbijane Schifrin's former townhouse at 141 East 19th Street has gone on the market. The five-story manse, which is currently divided into two units, is listed for $8.75 million. [NYT, Sotheby's]

• After more than two years on the market, Gisele Bundchen has finally found a buyer for her triplex penthouse at 347 West 11th Street. The supermodel didn't make out nearly as well as she'd been hoping when she first put the 1,700-square-foot apartment up for sale. Originally priced at $10.9 million in Sept. 2007, the pad was listed for $4.5 million when it went into contract last week. Hopefully she'll have better luck with the Barrow Street townhouse that she wants to sell. It's still on the market for $13.95 million. [WSJ, PDE]
• Dave Barger, the CEO of JetBlue, has taken a loss on the sale of his 11th-floor apartment at The Plaza. The two-bedroom pad, which Barger picked up for $10 million in 2007, just sold for $9 million. [Cityfile]
• Daniel Radcliffe has paid $5.65 million for a five-bedroom townhouse at 339 West 12th Street. The 3,000-square-foot property comes with six fireplaces and a balcony that overlooks a 39-foot-long backyard. [NYO]
• Publishing heir James Fairchild and his wife Whitney, who sold their Sutton Place apartment last year for $9 million, have picked up a new home in the Hamptons. The couple has gone into contract to buy a "fixer-upper" in Southampton for "well under" its asking price of $11 million. [NYP]

• Alexis Stewart is hoping the third time is the charm when it comes to unloading her apartment at 27 North Moore Street. The 3,884-square-foot duplex penthouse loft, which Stewart tried to sell for $12.4 million in both 2007 and 2008, was taken off the market most recently this past July. But now the apartment is back—and it's sporting a higher price tag, too. The loft is currently listed for $12.95 million with Prudential Douglas Elliman's Dolly Lenz. [Cityfile, PDE]
• Jude Law is renting a three-bedroom apartment at the Novare on West 4th Street. What he's paying for the rental isn't clear, but the 3,500-square-foot apartment is up for sale for $7.8 million if you're interested. [NYP, BHS]

• Whoopi Goldberg has gone into contract to sell her two-bedroom loft at 101 Wooster Street. The comedian, actress, and View co-host put the apartment on the market for $3.99 million back in June and closed on the purchase of a home in West Orange, NJ just last week. [Cityfile, Sotheby's]
• After going into contract (and falling out of contract) multiple times, the triplex penthouse at 895 Park that belonged to the late movie producer and clothing entrepreneur Charles Evans has finally found a buyer. The four-bedroom apartment, which was first offered for $29.5 million in 2007, was purchased for $15 million by Robert Weisz, the CEO of the commercial real estate company the RPW Group, and his wife Cristina. [Cityfile]

• Kimora Lee Simmons is looking to unload a decidedly modest home she owns in East Hampton. The 2,300-square-foot home, which Kimora picked up for $690,000 in 2003, is currently listed for $800,000. Don't expect to find any evidence that the Queen of Bling has spent much time there: In addition to the much larger estate she owns nearby, she also has a $20 million mansion in Saddle River, NJ, which has been on the market since 2007. [Real Estalker, PDE]
• Retired tech exec Lawrence Mueller and his wife Mary Kay have dropped the price of their three-bedroom condo at 15 Central Park West five months after first listing it for $16.5 million. The 25th-floor condo, which the couple bought for $5.99 million in late '07, is now priced at $15.5 million. [Curbed, PDE]

• Richard Gere and wife Carey Lowell have closed on the sale of their home in Water Mill. The 5,500-square-foot residence set on 1.2 acres sold to Susan Boland and Kelly Granat for $5.9 million, which is about a third less than its original asking price of $8.8 million. [WSJ]
• Vicki Rosen-Solomon, the widow of private equity exec Adam Solomon, is selling her co-op at 956 Fifth. The three-bedroom apartment, which was purchased in 2002, is listed for $14.575 million. [Cityfile, Stribling]
• Suzanne Sheik, the jewelry designer and mother of Duncan Sheik, is selling her five-story UES townhouse. The 7,000-square-foot manse, which Sheik spent to years renovating, is on the market with Stribling's Barbara Evans-Butler for $17.5 million, or double what she paid for the home in 2007. [WSJ]
• Photographer Jade Albert has paid $2.595 million for a three-bedroom apartment at the Olcott at 27 West 72nd Street. [Cityfile]

• Whoopi Goldberg is headed to Jersey. Two months after she put her Soho loft on the market for $3.99 million (which still happens to be up for sale, incidentally) comes word that the comedienne and View co-host has picked up a 9,486-square foot Colonial on 2.4 acres in West Orange, NJ. Originally listed for $2.999 million, Goldberg closed on the house for $2.8 million. [Real Estalker]
• Paolo Pellegrini, the Italian-born hedge funder who worked for John Paulson until recently and who generated a 80% return this year by betting the economy was going to tank, has a new pad. He's paying "close to" $10 million to buy an apartment at 88 Central Park West from writer Ray Errol Fox and his wife Jean Thomas, a backup singer for Ella Fitzgerald in the '60s. [NYP]
• Walter Cronkite's former apartment at the UN Plaza will soon be up for sale. Joanna Simon, the broker who landed the listing, says the two-bedroom co-op will hit the market "within the month" for $2.995 million. [NYO]