The townhouse at 151 Avenue B in Alpha City is the place where jazz legend Charlie "Bird" Parker, along with his common-law wife Chan Richardson, lived from 1950 to 1954. It was in this garden-floor apartment where, at the height of his career, Parker and his family would share Sunday dinners.
According to 6SQFT, the street where townhouse stood at Avenue B between 7th and 10th Streets was renamed Charlie Parker Place in 1992, in honor to the music great, and the historic 1849 Gothic Revival house was landmarked in 1999. This piece of history is now up for grab. As the Post reports, the house together with five apartments has hit the market for $9.25 million.
The listing said that, "The home includes gorgeous original details with double wood doors, a decorative relief beneath the projecting box cornice and the well-preserved pointed archway with clustered colonettes."
The house features high ceilings, original wood floors, and well-preserved fireplaces with mantels. In addition to apartment, there are four full-floor units that include a penthouse with a private deck and skylights. The buyer does have the option to convert the property into a single-family home.
Parker passed away in 1955, and it's only in 1979 that jazz Brooker Judy Rhodes bought the property. Today, the sounds of jazz are remembered during the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival held in Tompkins Square Park each month of August.
East Village said Charlie Parker, the legendary alto saxophonist, lived in 151 Avenue B during the final years of his life in the 1950s. After Judy Rhodes purchased the property in 1979, it became the focal point of many of jazz's leading ensembles in the early 1980s. It was in this historic place where clients of Rhodes performed rehearsals.
Judy Rhodes worked hard to get the home on the National Register of Historic Places. Since 1992, the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival is held every month of August just near the historic home.
