Taylor Swift's neighbors not happy about living on same block: 'We don't need celebrities here'
By Corynne Cirilli | New York Post
Tribeca residents better be nice, or Taylor Swift might write a vindictive song about them.
As The Post recently revealed, the singer has been building up her downtown real estate collection, adding a $9.75 million apartment at 155 Franklin St. — the address where she already owns an 8,000-square-foot penthouse duplex created from two units. And this past fall, it was reported that she purchased a three-story townhouse next door, at 153 Franklin, for $18 million.
Total worth of her block domination? A cool $47.7 million.
But not all of Swift’s neighbors in Tribeca — home to the city’s most expensive zip codes — are happy for her.
“We don’t need celebrities here that will draw the focus [of] the paparazzi or extra fan attention. [There’s already a] small swarm of teenage girls lurking and swooning outside [Swift’s home regularly],” said an entrepreneur who lives in the neighborhood. “Yes, we have celebrities living here — [but] we like not having conspicuous celebrities here. That’s why we live in Tribeca. Because the flashier famous people are clustered [in neighborhoods] like the West Village.”
Days after it was reported this past October that Swift had purchased the townhouse, someone posted a flier reading “Taylor Swift Can Go F--- Herself” to a Tribeca lamppost.
It didn’t help that the townhouse was already notorious: It’s where disgraced International Monetary Fund director Dominique Strauss-Kahn hid out after allegedly assaulting a hotel maid in 2011 (charges were later dropped). Although no work has been reported since Swift purchased the property, neighbors are worried she might begin a large-scale construction project to combine units from the two buildings — just as she combined two apartments to create her 155 duplex.
Taylor Swift just bought a $9.75 million apartment at 155 Franklin St. — the same building where she already
purchased two other apartments, which she's since turned into a single unit. (Google Street View)
“People are concerned. Everyone’s wondering what she’ll do — if she will connect the buildings for the garage access [as the townhouse has its own garage with a private entrance] or make a massive compound,” said one resident who lives nearby and who, like the entrepreneur, asked that The Post withhold her name for fear of angering Swift. “There was speculation on what she needs the new townhouse and second unit for. Some think [the townhouse] is for parking!”
A spokesperson for the singer did not return calls for comment.
“Franklin Street has a history of being an apocalypse of construction,” said the entrepreneur. “When even one lane is blocked off it can cause chaos.”
A commenter on the Tribeca Citizen Web site wrote of how Swift’s presence already inconveniences residents of 155 Franklin: “There’s one elevator and if she’s coming or going, [her] bodyguards won’t let anyone get in. They’ll hold the elevator on the top floor for 30 [minutes] waiting for her.”
Meanwhile, the singer has created waves in the real-estate world. Brokerage firm Douglas Elliman is suing her for unpaid commissions of $1.6 million related to the townhouse sale.
Swift also purchased a three-story townhouse at 153 Franklin, and neighbors suspect she might connect her
two properties to form a "massive compound." (Google Street View)
A Swift insider insisted, “It’s not that she’s a bad neighbor — but the [paparazzi loitering outside] really is a problem.”
The insider added that Swift had a tough time finding co-op boards and buildings that would sell to her, given the baggage that comes with her level of fame. “People aren’t thrilled that she’s down there, but it comes with the territory. Tribeca is filled with two types of people: older people with a lot of money who want to be left alone and young, cool people who don’t care that she’s there.”
Count Alice + Olivia fashion designer Stacey Bendet Eisner among those in the latter camp. “I don’t see why it’s bad,” she said of Swift’s block dominance. “Taylor is an incredibly successful woman who does great things for children. We should be proud to have her as a neighbor.”
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