New York City has always drawn the world’s biggest stars, and its most sought-after neighborhoods are no exception. From landmarked townhouses in the Village to sleek waterfront condos in Brooklyn, A-list actors, musicians, and public figures continue to put down roots across the five boroughs.
Here’s an updated look at nine NYC neighborhoods where celebrities have owned or rented homes, along with a few of the boldface names who’ve called each one home. Real estate records, celebrity press coverage, and neighborhood reporting all help tell the story of where the city’s biggest names have chosen to settle down, and for a closer look at the specific buildings behind many of these addresses, see our guide to NYC’s Elite Residences.
1. Tribeca
Tribeca is home to some of the most expensive properties in the city, and it’s no surprise that some of the world’s most celebrities call this trendy neighborhood home. Beyonce and Jay-Z, Jennifer Lopez, and Robert De Niro are just a few celebrities who own homes in the area. Taylor Swift has reportedly amassed a real estate portfolio that includes a Tribeca penthouse worth roughly $150 million, according to ELLE Decor, and CityRealty counted Justin Timberlake and Hugh Jackman among the neighborhood’s biggest celebrity real estate deals in 2025, a sign that Tribeca’s cast-iron lofts remain some of the most coveted addresses in the city.
Tribeca takes its name from “Triangle Below Canal Street,” and its celebrity-friendly lofts trace back to a wave of 19th-century warehouses and cast-iron buildings originally built for the textile and dry-goods trade. When manufacturing left Manhattan in the mid-20th century, artists and, later, deep-pocketed buyers converted those industrial floor plates into some of the city’s largest and most private residences, a transformation that helped cement Tribeca’s reputation as a discreet, low-profile alternative to more crowded uptown addresses.
That scarcity shows up in the numbers. Recent brokerage reports have put Tribeca’s median asking price well into the multimillion-dollar range, and Realtor.com has covered new construction like the cast-iron-inspired conversion at 32 Walker Street, which drew serious interest from wealthy buyers even before it was finished, evidence that Tribeca’s blend of historic character and modern luxury keeps it near the top of Manhattan’s most expensive neighborhoods.
2. The Upper East Side
This wealthy neighborhood is home to some of the city’s most luxurious apartments and townhouses. Celebs like Madonna, Rihanna, and Justin Timberlake have all owned properties on the Upper East Side. A 2025 New Yorker photo portfolio of notable New Yorkers’ homes also featured filmmaker Spike Lee and producer Tonya Lewis Lee at their Upper East Side residence, underscoring how the neighborhood’s prewar co-ops continue to attract boldface names alongside its museums and private schools.
Long before it became synonymous with old-money wealth, the Upper East Side grew up around Fifth and Park Avenues in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when industrialists and financiers built grand limestone mansions and prewar cooperative buildings near Central Park. That prewar housing stock, with its high ceilings, formal layouts, and doorman service, is still the neighborhood’s calling card and a major reason it continues to attract boldface names who want privacy without straying far from Manhattan’s museums and cultural institutions.
Despite competition from newer downtown developments, the Upper East Side has held up well, with recent market reports pointing to steady price growth and median sale prices in the seven-figure range even as inventory stays limited. That mix of scarcity and pedigree keeps the neighborhood a perennial favorite for both old-guard families and newly arrived celebrities alike.
3. The Hamptons
This Long Island beach town has the most luxurious properties in the country. Celebs, including Howard Stern, Billy Joel, and Gwyneth Paltrow, have all called the Hamptons home at one point or another. Bravo host Andy Cohen has since built a sprawling custom estate of his own out east, which he has told Realtor.com he plans to own “forever,” while ELLE Decor has reported that stars including Meg Ryan and Alec Baldwin have listed multimillion-dollar Hamptons properties in recent years, keeping the market for boldface-name real estate as competitive as ever.
The Hamptons’ celebrity reputation dates back generations, when Manhattan’s wealthiest families began building shingle-style summer “cottages” along the East End’s beaches to escape the city heat, a tradition that later expanded into the sprawling modern estates favored by musicians, actors, and financiers today. Towns like East Hampton, Southampton, and Bridgehampton each developed their own character, from historic village greens to oceanfront enclaves, giving the region a surprising amount of variety for house hunters.
The area’s celebrity real estate keeps making headlines. Jay-Z and Beyonce reportedly paid around $25 million for their Georgica Pond estate in East Hampton, and ELLE Decor has featured Meg Ryan’s Bridgehampton farmhouse among a handful of star-owned Hamptons properties that have cycled back onto the market in recent years, a sign of just how competitive the East End remains for both entertainment-industry buyers and a newer wave of finance and tech wealth.
4. Greenwich Village
This historic, tree-lined neighborhood is home to some of the city’s most recognizable celebrities. Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, and Alec Baldwin all own homes in the area, drawn to its landmarked townhouses and low-rise charm. For a look at the kind of restored townhouse that makes the neighborhood so coveted, see our tour of 34 West 12th Street. Recent sales confirm the neighborhood’s staying power among A-listers: Realtor.com reported that singer Pink paid $21.5 million for a historic Greenwich Village townhouse, and actor Justin Theroux has long kept an apartment in the area as well, drawn to the same quiet, tree-lined streets that first attracted Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.
Greenwich Village grew up as one of the few parts of Manhattan that largely escaped the city’s rigid street grid, leaving it with the winding lanes, Federal-style row houses, and Greek Revival townhouses that still define the neighborhood today. That low-rise, landmarked character, protected in large part by the Greenwich Village Historic District, is exactly what continues to draw actors and musicians seeking a quieter, more residential alternative to high-rise Manhattan living.
Townhouses here routinely trade for well above the borough average. A 2026 market roundup from Wiss highlighted Pink’s $21.5 million Greenwich Village townhouse purchase as a marker of just how far prices at the top of the market have climbed, with brokerages tracking the neighborhood noting a sharp jump in median sale prices as buyers compete hard for its limited stock of restored single-family homes.
5. DUMBO
DUMBO gets its name from its location, “Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass,” and it’s home to some of the most expensive properties in Brooklyn. Denzel Washington and Joe Jonas have both owned units at The Olympia, a waterfront condo tower that has become one of the neighborhood’s most star-studded addresses, alongside longtime resident Scarlett Johansson. The Olympia has also made headlines for its record-breaking sales; take a closer look at the building’s $19.5 million crown-jewel penthouse to see why it has become one of Brooklyn’s most talked-about addresses.
DUMBO’s industrial-to-residential story is one of the more dramatic in Brooklyn. The neighborhood’s cobblestone streets were once lined with 19th- and early 20th-century warehouses and factories serving the East River waterfront, many of which sat mostly vacant by the 1970s. Developers began converting those buildings into artist lofts in the decades that followed, preserving exposed brick, timber beams, and cast-iron columns while adding the amenities that eventually attracted a wealthier wave of buyers, including the celebrities who call The Olympia and its neighboring towers home today.
That transformation has paid off for owners. Recent market data has put DUMBO’s median sale price well into seven figures, a sharp jump from just a few years earlier, and outlets like Dezeen have covered a new generation of Brooklyn warehouse-to-residence conversions in the area, as buyers pay a premium for waterfront views of the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan skyline alongside the neighborhood’s mix of historic conversions and glass-tower new construction.
6. Brooklyn Heights
This affluent neighborhood is home to some of the most luxurious houses in the city, and it’s no surprise that some of the world’s most celebrities call it home. Paul McCartney, Anne Hathaway, and Leonardo DiCaprio are just a few celebs who own homes in Brooklyn Heights. More recently, the New York Post and The Real Deal reported that Adam Driver purchased multiple units at The Standish, a converted luxury condo building where Matt Damon and Emily Blunt and John Krasinski also own homes, cementing the building’s status as one of the borough’s most star-studded addresses.
Brooklyn Heights holds a genuine piece of preservation history: in 1965 it became New York City’s first officially designated historic district, a status that protects its rows of Greek Revival, Italianate, and Queen Anne brownstones built between roughly 1820 and 1890. That protected streetscape, along with the neighborhood’s famous Promenade overlooking the harbor and Lower Manhattan skyline, has long made it one of the most sought-after addresses in Brooklyn for buyers who want brownstone charm within a short commute to the city.
Recent sales underscore the neighborhood’s staying power. The New York Times reported that a Brooklyn Heights brownstone sold for $24.5 million in an off-market deal, one of the borough’s most expensive residential transactions of the year, while other market trackers have shown the area’s high-end brownstone segment continuing to command some of Brooklyn’s steepest per-square-foot prices.
7. Soho
This trendy neighborhood caters to famous areas, and it’s no surprise that some of the world’s most celebrities call this neighborhood home. Robert Downey Jr., Julianne Moore, and Woody Allen are just a few celebrities who own Soho homes. SoHo’s cast-iron buildings and cobblestone streets continue to draw A-listers seeking downtown character, and it’s one of several downtown pockets worth watching, alongside the other up-and-coming areas covered in NYC’s Emerging Neighborhoods. AOL has reported that “Forever NYC It Girl” Chloe Sevigny lives in an art-filled SoHo apartment, a nod to the neighborhood’s enduring appeal to creative types who want gallery-quality space without leaving downtown.
SoHo takes its name from its location “South of Houston Street,” and the neighborhood is home to one of the largest collections of cast-iron architecture in the world, a legacy of its 19th-century days as a manufacturing and dry-goods district. Much of the area falls within the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District, which strictly limits new construction and alterations, a big part of why the cobblestone streets and ornate iron facades that once housed artist squats now command some of the city’s highest per-square-foot prices.
That scarcity has kept SoHo firmly in ultra-luxury territory. Brokerage Kobi Lahav has reported median sale prices in the multimillion-dollar range and per-square-foot pricing that regularly tops $2,000 for the neighborhood’s coveted full-floor lofts, a category of home that remains especially popular with the design-minded celebrities and creative professionals SoHo has attracted for decades.
8. Williamsburg
Williamsburg is a trendy neighborhood in Brooklyn, home to many celebrities. Some notable names include Blake Lively, John Krasinski, and Amy Schumer. Once a manufacturing hub, the neighborhood has transformed over the past two decades into one of Brooklyn’s most sought-after waterfront destinations, with converted warehouses, a thriving live-music and gallery scene, and Domino Park’s converted sugar refinery grounds all fueling demand from buyers who want a downtown Manhattan feel with a fraction of the price tag.
Much of Williamsburg’s current housing stock reflects that industrial past, from converted factory lofts along Kent and Wythe Avenues to the new waterfront towers that replaced sugar refineries and shipping warehouses. The neighborhood’s subway connections into Manhattan, combined with its concentration of independent music venues, galleries, and restaurants, helped fuel the wave of change that turned Williamsburg into a magnet for young creatives and, eventually, the celebrities who followed them across the river.
Market watchers have described Williamsburg as one of Brooklyn’s fastest-growing luxury pockets. The Behfar Team has noted the neighborhood’s shift from industrial warehouse district to one of the borough’s most sought-after addresses, with waterfront new-development condos now commanding some of Brooklyn’s highest per-square-foot prices.
9. West Village
The iconic sitcom “Friends” and the beloved show “Sex and the City” have one thing in common: the same New York City address. 90 Bedford Street is the address associated with both shows, an actual building in the Village that became known for its connection to these beloved series.
The Village is a popular place to live for celebrities, as it has been home to many famous people. Some of the most notable names who have lived there include Bob Dylan, Taylor Swift, and Hugh Jackman. Many well-known actors, musicians, and public figures call The Village their home, such as Daniel Radcliffe, Liv Tyler, Julianne Moore, and Bradley Cooper. Sarah Jessica Parker, whose Carrie Bradshaw stoop made the neighborhood famous, has long called the West Village home, and Jennifer Lawrence has also put down roots here, reportedly settling into a townhouse on Jane Street.
Like its Greenwich Village neighbor, the West Village’s tangle of non-grid streets took shape in the 18th and early 19th centuries, and by the 1910s and 1920s the area had become the epicenter of New York’s bohemian scene, drawing writers, artists, and, later, the LGBTQ+ community that still shapes its identity today. That history is woven into the neighborhood’s low-rise rowhouses and converted carriage houses, many of which now sell for many times their original value while retaining the intimate, village-like scale that first attracted creative residents.
Limited inventory and outsized demand have made the West Village one of Manhattan’s priciest micro-markets. Fox Business reported penthouses there selling for as much as $85 million, with brokerages highlighting some of the highest per-square-foot prices in the city, as longtime residents and newly arrived celebrities compete for a small stock of landmarked townhouses and boutique condo conversions.
Conclusion
Whether you’re a fan of celebs or just curious about where the rich and famous life is, these are some locations of celebrity homes in New York City. Thus, from luxurious apartments in Manhattan to sprawling estates in the Hamptons, these locations will give you an inside look into the glamorous lives of the rich and famous. Neighborhoods like Greenwich Village, SoHo, and the West Village remain some of the most sought-after among boldface names, and new celebrity sightings keep popping up across the city every year.
Off The MRKT is an excellent resource for anyone looking for a new home in the New York City area. We provide listings of all types of homes and apartments and feature an impressive list of celebrity homes in New York. With our list, potential buyers can get an idea of the types of homes available in the city. Whether looking for a luxurious penthouse or a cozy studio apartment, check out our real estate updates. For more star-studded inspiration, browse our roundup of 2023’s Top 10 Celebrity Homes, or step inside Gramercy Park, another historic enclave that continues to draw its own share of famous residents.
FAQ: Where NYC’s Celebrities Live
Which New York City neighborhoods do celebrities live in most?
Tribeca, the Upper East Side, Greenwich Village, SoHo, and the West Village are the Manhattan neighborhoods most closely associated with celebrity homeowners, while DUMBO, Brooklyn Heights, and Williamsburg have become the borough’s top celebrity destinations in Brooklyn.
What is the most expensive celebrity neighborhood in NYC?
Tribeca and the West Village typically command the highest prices. Taylor Swift’s Tribeca penthouse has been valued around $150 million, according to ELLE Decor, and Fox Business has reported West Village penthouses selling for as much as $85 million.
Do celebrities live in Brooklyn as well as Manhattan?
Yes. Brooklyn neighborhoods like DUMBO, Brooklyn Heights, and Williamsburg have all become major celebrity destinations, with buildings like The Olympia in DUMBO and The Standish in Brooklyn Heights drawing multiple A-list residents.
Which NYC building has the most celebrity residents?
The Standish in Brooklyn Heights and The Olympia in DUMBO are both known for housing multiple celebrities at once. The Standish counts Adam Driver, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, and John Krasinski among its owners, while The Olympia includes Denzel Washington, Joe Jonas, and Scarlett Johansson.
What building is associated with Friends and Sex and the City?
90 Bedford Street in the West Village is the real-life building used as the exterior for both Friends’ apartment building and Carrie Bradshaw’s stoop in Sex and the City.
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