Joan Rivers' NYC Apartment

[d.anders]

For some reason, this ended up in my Feed today.

I remember seeing Joan's Thanksgiving spread, which was quite glamorous. I think I also saw her give a tour to Hoda and Kathie Lee. This is the first time I've seen it like this. A very special piece of NYC, and fitting for woman like Joan.

[Luv2play]

40 minutes ago, d.anders said:

For some reason, this ended up in my Feed today.

I remember seeing Joan's Thanksgiving spread, which was quite glamorous. I think I also saw her give a tour to Hoda and Kathie Lee. This is the first time I've seen it like this. A very special piece of NYC, and fitting for woman like Joan.

Really? I wouldn’t have guessed that a stand up comic woman with her style of comedy would live in such surroundings. They ape Versailles but in a pre war apartment building perched aloft overlooking Central Park. 

The dining room suggests a setting fit for a diplomat or European playboy where Joan would have been invited to supply some comic relief. 

[samhexum]

The apartment has been in the news many times since she died, and occasionally even before.  It's been difficult to sell at the prices asked.

[pubic_assistance]

I remember a televised tour of the apartment by Joan Rivers when she was still alive.

In classic Joan humor, she quipped: "This is how Marie Antoinette would have lived....if she had the money."

Edited May 12 by pubic_assistance
spelling

[Ali Gator]

A year after her death in 2014, her daughter Melissa inherited it, and sold the place to Prince Mohammed bin Fahd Al Saud for $24 million (it listed at $28M). After some serious renovations (he didn't really like Rivers' style) he put it on the market in  January, 2021 for  $38M.  In June, 2023, he cut the price to $34.5M. In January 2024, after three years on the market and no interest from buyers, he took it off the market. This past January, it went back on the marker with a $10M price cut - it's now listed at $28M, the original price her daughter Melissa listed it at ten years ago. As you can see from the listing below, the renovations have 'calmed' the interior quite a bit. Not a place Marie Antoinette would call home.

Upper East Side penthouse owned by Joan Rivers back on market after $10M price cut

WWW.6SQFT.COM

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A regal triplex penthouse on the Upper East Side—formerly owned by Joan Rivers and now by a Saudi prince—is back on the market after a significant price cut.

 

[+ ApexNomad]

Her penthouse was gorgeous. Especially in-person. Met her through David Dangle. Did not like what they did with the renovations after it was sold. She had great taste. She was brilliantly funny, of course, but very thoughtful and smart. 

[Luv2play]

28 minutes ago, ApexNomad said:

Her penthouse was gorgeous. Especially in-person. Met her through David Dangle. Did not like what they did with the renovations after it was sold. She had great taste. She was brilliantly funny, of course, but very thoughtful and smart. 

Are there pictures available showing what the interiors looked like when she lived there? From what is said above I gather the current look reflects the Saudi Prince’s tastes. 

[+ Travis69]

48 minutes ago, Luv2play said:

Are there pictures available showing what the interiors looked like when she lived there? From what is said above I gather the current look reflects the Saudi Prince’s tastes. 

Exclusive | Joan Rivers' longtime NYC home has re-listed with a $10M price cut --...

NYPOST.COM

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The 4,661-square-foot aerie at 1 E. 62nd St., now owned by a Saudi prince, hit the market on Wednesday for $28 million.

 

[Luv2play]

I actually like it the way Joan had it decorated. Not exactly my taste but it has colour and warmth to it. And her furnishings look more personal and not some interior designers rendition of Versailles. 

[+ sync]

I applaud her moxie for continuing to stay there after the apparition sightings.  Had it been me sighting apparitions, I would have probably destroyed the building making my way to the street. 

[+ Pensant]

Lots of gold.

[d.anders]

16 hours ago, Luv2play said:

Really? I wouldn’t have guessed that a stand up comic woman with her style of comedy would live in such surroundings.

Joan would often surprise me, too.

[+ ApexNomad]

7 minutes ago, d.anders said:

Joan would often surprise me, too.

In many ways, she’s very different from the persona on stage. She’s funny, obviously, but I found her to be very generous and warm. If you haven’t, you should watch the documentary they did about her — A Piece of Work. Fascinating. 

I was at a few dinner parties of hers and she took an interest in all her guests, including me. Genuinely interested. She really took care of her own. She loved jewelry and fine art. She really prided herself on her QVC line - she wore her pieces proudly. She really did. It wasn’t a show. She always looked fabulous.

[Luv2play]

9 hours ago, Pensant said:

Lots of gold.

That’s where I part company with the design choices. If you have lots of money and by extension are able to buy a ton of gold, best to keep it in the vaults away from prying eyes. 
 

The Saudis on the other hand love to flaunt gold in your face. I remember after OPEC in the 1970’s raised them up from poor wandering tribes in the desert to mega millionaires by the score, they invaded Geneva and within a few years the store windows in the shopping district were replete with gold baubles. The city lost some of its charm. 

[coriolis888]

On 5/12/2025 at 3:58 PM, ApexNomad said:

 She was brilliantly funny, of course, but very thoughtful and smart. 

Except when she publicly said those terrible things about Michelle Obama, calling her a drag queen.  Not nice nor true.

[+ ApexNomad]

1 hour ago, coriolis888 said:

Except when she publicly said those terrible things about Michelle Obama, calling her a drag queen.  Not nice nor true.

Joan was a comedian who made a career out of off-color jokes and provocative remarks. I’m not her mouthpiece, and I’m certainly not here to defend every line she ever delivered over a six-decade career.

What I can speak to is what I’ve seen—both publicly and personally.

Joan was a real advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. She publicly endorsed marriage equality and officiated same-sex weddings. In the early 1980s—when AIDS was still widely misunderstood and feared—she hosted one of the very first major AIDS fundraisers at Studio One in West Hollywood. She was warned it might hurt her career. She didn’t care.

She was also deeply philanthropic. Joan was a longtime supporter and board member of God’s Love We Deliver, a charity that provides meals to people living with severe illnesses, including those with HIV/AIDS. When she passed, she left a substantial portion of her estate to them.

She paid for the education of her staff, their children, and even their grandchildren—not just random schools, but private schools and Ivy League universities.

And on a personal note, for over a decade, I received a beautiful orchid from Joan every single year on my birthday. That kind of doesn’t make headlines, but it says everything you need to know.

[BuffaloKyle]

As a bit of an ironic timing they had a comedy tribute special on NBC tonight for Joan. I'll check it out tomorrow.

[+ Pensant]

10 hours ago, coriolis888 said:

Except when she publicly said those terrible things about Michelle Obama, calling her a drag queen.

She actually called Michelle a transgender and her husband the first gay president. You can find the clip easily.

[pubic_assistance]

10 hours ago, coriolis888 said:

Except when she publicly said those terrible things about Michelle Obama, calling her a drag queen.  Not nice nor true.

What about acerbic comedy do you not understand? Her style relied heavily on saying the things you think about but politely keep in your head.

[Ali Gator]

Quote

She was also deeply philanthropic. Joan was a longtime supporter and board member of God’s Love We Deliver, a charity that provides meals to people living with severe illnesses, including those with HIV/AIDS. When she passed, she left a substantial portion of her estate to them.

I remember seeing her work with this charity and learning about them through her documentary 'A Piece of Work'. I was so moved by this, that I decided to make this 'my charity' going forward (I have a charitable donation taken out of my check each pay period, and I've been donating to this charity ever since).

 

One of my CCs has this as an 'option' for my 'rewards dollars' each quarter - so rather than get a refund on my CC statement, I donate my rewards dollars to 'my selected charity', and this is the one. 

Edited May 14 by Ali Gator

[Lotus-eater]

On 5/13/2025 at 7:34 AM, ApexNomad said:

She really prided herself on her QVC line - she wore her pieces proudly. She really did. It wasn’t a show. She always looked fabulous.

She made a lot of money from her QVC line:

 

 

 

 

[d.anders]

Sadly, her comedy turned a lot of industry people off. Many folks in the industry branded her mean-spirited, and cancelled her before cancel was a thing. She was Don Rickles on steroids, except people knew Rickles was joking. Many in Hollywood did not feel the same about Joan's jokes. There are many videos on YouTube showing Joan on the celebrity attack. It is not pretty. Even her daughter could not stop her from hitting below the belt.

Joan had a fighting life and career. Her edge grew to be too sharp to soften.

[+ ApexNomad]

2 hours ago, d.anders said:

Sadly, her comedy turned a lot of industry people off. Many folks in the industry branded her mean-spirited, and cancelled her before cancel was a thing. She was Don Rickles on steroids, except people knew Rickles was joking. Many in Hollywood did not feel the same about Joan's jokes. There are many videos on YouTube showing Joan on the celebrity attack. It is not pretty. Even her daughter could not stop her from hitting below the belt.

Joan had a fighting life and career. Her edge grew to be too sharp to soften.

Don Rickles was called a legend. Joan was called mean. The difference? Joan was a woman. 

[jeezifonly]

One wonders if potential buyers leave a viewing thinking, “Let’s keep looking… the location is perfect, but something about the place felt, I dunno…funny”

[maninsoma]

I'm not saying Joan's comedy was never mean, but her joke about the Obamas, when taken in context, was silly, not mean spirited.