in Manhattan. The judges had insane real estate stories. One went in with three friends to put together $100,000 to buy an abandoned factory in Chelsea in 1982. He put in slightly more than the others, so they gave him the top floor and the roof access. It has an Empire State Building view and is on the same block as Marquee. I think the last assessment valued it for resale at like $4.8 million. Another judge went to view a property in Soho with his wife that had an industrial elevator that would have allowed them to build a garage inside the apartment. The owner wanted $5,000 for someone to take it off his hands, but the judge's wife couldn't get over how raw the space was and the fact that they'd have to at least enclose the toilet that was just sitting in one corner. Others were trying to downsize from their three and four bedroom apartments on the Park but couldn't afford to maintain a park view. It was unreal.
