Gloria Steinem Buys $1.1 Million Upper East Side Unit, in the Same Building Where She Lives

Gloria Steinem is expanding her Upper East Side empire.

The women’s rights activist bought a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment on East 73rd Street last month for $1.1 million, according to public records. This is Ms. Steinem’s third purchase in the building, where she has lived since she moved in as a renter in 1966.

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"She knew what a jewel it was," said Kelly Pieper from William Raveis, who was the listing agent along with Susan Forrest-Reynolds.

The apartment had been the longtime home of Mary Ann Madden, who died in August, the agents said. Madden was the first editor of the New York Magazine Competition, the publication’s weekly word challenge. She was brought in by composer Stephen Sondheim in 1969, when he was working there part time. Madden retired in 2000, and according to the New York Times, had edited 973 wordplay competitions.

The apartment was listed in October for $975,000, but only spent 10 days on the market, the agents said. Ms. Steinem outbid the first offer on the apartment, according to the agents. Having both lived in the building for decades, the women had "a nice relationship," Ms. Pieper said.

The new abode is a floor-through apartment with 16-foot ceilings and "great bones," Ms. Forrest-Reynolds said. There’s an oversize living room, two working fireplaces and ample light in the apartment.

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The brownstone building, on a quiet block between Park and Lexington avenues, has five units. Ms. Steinem bought her first apartment there in the 1990s for $160,000, according to records. Later she bought a second property in building; she uses the first two apartments as her living space. Ms. magazine was founded in that apartment in 1971.

Ms. Steinem, 83, has always wanted to establish a space for traveling feminists to stay, meet and have events, said Laura Fischer from her office. Although it’s in its early stages, Ms. Steinem has set up a foundation and hopes the new apartment will house activists in the future, Ms. Fischer said.

Ms. Steinem declined to comment, deferring to Ms. Fischer to speak on her behalf.