The Manhattan home of the late and acclaimed Robert Morgenthau, who was the longest-serving district attorney in the history of the state of New York, has listed for $3.2 million, The Post has learned.
Morgenthau purchased the co-op, located at 64 E. 86th St. with his wife and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Lucinda Franks, in 1996 — and remained there until his death. Franks passed away in May 2021 — and the home is being sold by their estate.
Morgenthau served in this role from 1975 until his retirement in 2009. He passed away in 2019, just 10 days shy of his 100th birthday.
His career took off in 1961. After 12 years of practicing corporate law, Morgenthau accepted an appointment from Pres. John F. Kennedy as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
During his time as district attorney, Morgenthau prosecuted some of the most infamous cases and criminals in the city’s history, including Mark David Chapman (John Lennon’s killer); Bernhard Goetz (the “subway vigilante”); Robert Chambers (the “preppie killer”); and he helped vacate the convictions of the “Central Park Five” in 2002.
Morgenthau’s most notable early case was the 1962 conviction of State Supreme Court Justice J. Vincent Keogh and Anthony (Tony Ducks) Corallo.
Corallo was a mobster and boss of the Lucchese crime family. Corallo earned his nickname evading subpoenas and convictions, on charges of attempted bribery to influence a federal bankruptcy fraud case. At the time, he exercised immense control over trucking and construction unions in New York.
Morgenthau also successfully prosecuted mob boss John Gotti.
Morgenthau’s former co-op is a seamless combination of two apartments on the tenth floor of the building. Spanning roughly 2,500 square feet, the home is currently configured as a five-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom home with a grand living room and a separate dining area.
Other features include a spacious second living room/den, a kitchen and a pantry, a marble-mantled woodburning fireplace, classic built-ins and a wooden archway with pocket doors.
“Keep the current layout or create new possibilities: remove the smaller bedroom for grander, wider living and dining area; swap the kitchen and laundry/service bedroom for an alternative configuration,” the listing notes.
Built in 1917, the prewar building is an elevator cooperative with 37 units in the heart of the Upper East Side. Features include a full-time doorman, a live-in superintendent, laundry facilities and a bike room.
Jonah Ramu Cohen with The Corcoran Group holds the listing.
On Feb. 27, 2009, Morgenthau announced that he would not seek reelection in 2009. “I never expected to be here this long … [R]ecently, I figured that I’d served 25 years beyond the normal retirement age,” he said during his announcement.
“If you want people to have confidence in their government, you’ve got to show that people who have economic power or political power are not immune from prosecution,” he told Bloomberg.
Throughout his career, he received bi-partisan support, which led to his nearly 35-year run as district attorney.