New York Trophy-Asset Professionals: Property, Yachts, Law

<p>New York holds more resident millionaires than any other city, and its trophy-asset market is built on depth rather than scarcity. The largest American private banks are run from Midtown, and the May and November auctions at Christie's and Sotheby's set prices for the global art market. What distinguishes New York from London or Zurich is not discretion but scale, and the professional who matters is the one who knows which part of that scale applies to the client.</p> <h2>Three Property Markets</h2> <p></p> <p>Manhattan's super-prime residential market divides into three segments with different rules. Condominiums, including the towers along 57th Street known as Billionaires' Row, can be bought through an LLC or a trust without approval and produce the headline prices: the USD 238 million purchase at 220 Central Park South in 2019 remains the city's residential record. Co-operatives, which account for much of the pre-war stock on Fifth and Park Avenues, sell shares in a corporation and require approval by the building's board, often with full financial disclosure and substantial post-closing liquidity. Townhouses on the Upper East Side, in the West Village and in brownstone Brooklyn form a third market, where zoning, landmark status and air rights drive value.</p> <p>Costs fall mainly on the buyer. The New York State mansion tax rises from 1 percent at USD 1 million to 3.9 percent above USD 25 million. Sellers pay city and state transfer taxes of roughly 2 percent combined at the top end. Each side instructs its own attorney, and the contract, not the broker, determines the terms.</p> <h2>The Trusts and Estates Bar</h2> <p></p> <p>New York's private client lawyers serve families whose planning sits between two tax systems. The federal estate and gift tax exemption is USD 15 million per person from 2026; New York's own estate tax applies above roughly USD 7 million and removes the exemption entirely once an estate exceeds it by more than 5 percent. Firms such as Milbank, Proskauer, Carter Ledyard and Milburn and Patterson Belknap, all ranked in Chambers High Net Worth, combine planning with fiduciary litigation in the Surrogate's Courts, where contested estates involving art, real estate and family companies are decided.</p> <h2>Private Banks and Family Offices</h2> <p></p> <p>The private banking market spans universal banks and independent firms. J.P. Morgan Private Bank and Citi Private Bank offer lending against securities, property, aircraft and art from their own balance sheets. Bessemer Trust, founded in 1907 as the family office of Henry Phipps, and Brown Brothers Harriman, a private partnership with nineteenth-century roots, represent the older independent tradition. Multi-family offices such as Rockefeller Capital Management serve families who want reporting, tax coordination and governance support without running an office of their own.</p> <h2>What to Look For</h2> <p></p> <p>In New York the information is plentiful and the conflicts are subtle. A broker may represent the developer of the building being shown. A bank may recommend its own funds. A law firm may act for other members of the same family. The credible professional discloses these positions before being asked, and can show closed work in the specific segment the client is entering: a co-op board package, a cross-border estate, a credit facility secured on a collection.</p> <p>The professionals listed below are based in New York and serve trophy-asset clients in the city directly.</p>

New York

New York Professionals

Art & Advisory

Megan Fox Kelly Art Advisory

Schwartzman&

Legal

Carter Ledyard & Milburn

Milbank

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler

Proskauer Rose

Private Banking

Bessemer Trust

Brown Brothers Harriman

Citi Private Bank

J.P. Morgan Private Bank

Rockefeller Capital Management

Real Estate

Corcoran Group

Douglas Elliman

Leslie J. Garfield

SERHANT.

Sotheby's International Realty