Monaco is defined by scarcity, Zurich by discretion, Dubai by speed. New York is defined by scale. It is home to more resident millionaires than any other city, it is where the largest American private banks are run, and it hosts the May and November evening sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s that set prices for the global art market. For a family with assets in several jurisdictions, New York is rarely the only base, but it is often the one where the largest single decisions are taken.
The Registry’s New York directory launches with ten newly researched firms across real estate, private client law and private banking, joining the New York brokers, art advisors and banks already listed.
Property: Three Markets, Three Sets of Rules
Manhattan’s super-prime residential market is not one market. 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 is still the city’s residential record. Co-operatives, which make up much of the pre-war stock on Fifth and Park Avenues, sell shares rather than real property and require the approval of a board that may ask for full financial disclosure. Townhouses form a third, thinner market in which zoning, landmark status and unused air rights can matter as much as square footage.
The professionals differ accordingly. SERHANT., founded by Ryan Serhant in 2020, is active in new development condominium sales. Leslie J. Garfield has worked almost exclusively on townhouses for around fifty years. Transaction costs fall largely on the buyer: the New York State mansion tax reaches 3.9 percent above USD 25 million, and both sides instruct attorneys who negotiate the contract.
Law: Planning Between Two Tax Systems
New York’s trusts and estates lawyers work between a federal estate tax exemption of USD 15 million per person from 2026 and a New York estate tax that applies above roughly USD 7 million, with a cliff that removes the exemption once an estate exceeds it by more than 5 percent. Milbank, Proskauer, Carter Ledyard and Milburn and Patterson Belknap, each ranked in Chambers High Net Worth, combine planning for founding families with representation in the Surrogate’s Courts, where contested estates involving art, property and family companies are decided.
Banking: Balance Sheets and Independence
J.P. Morgan Private Bank, named North America’s best for family office services in the Euromoney Private Banking Awards 2026, offers what only a large balance sheet can: credit against securities, real estate, aircraft and art. Bessemer Trust, established in 1907 as the family office of Henry Phipps, and Brown Brothers Harriman, still a private partnership, represent an older independent tradition. Rockefeller Capital Management, formed in 2018 on the foundations of the Rockefeller family office, serves families who want family office services without building their own.
What the Directory Is For
In New York information is plentiful and conflicts are subtle. A broker may also represent the developer. A bank may favour its own products. A law firm may already act for another branch of the family. The Registry lists firms against published criteria, marks third-party recognition only where it can be cited, and links each Institutionally Verified badge to its source. Firms are added as they meet those standards; corrections and removal requests go to info@trophyregistry.com.
Browse the New York city page, or go directly to private client lawyers, private banks and real estate brokers in the city.