For NYC's athletes, city often not home sweet home

After the Mets signed their All-Star third baseman to a six-year, $55 million contract two years ago, David Wright returned their commitment by joining the minority of New York's professional athletes who live in Manhattan.

Wright's brokers, Juliette Janssens and Allison Bandier Koffman of Sotheby's International Realty, suggested a new building in the Flatiron District that offered the 23-year-old bachelor from Norfolk, Va., the rhythms of the city as well as proximity to Shea Stadium in Queens.

"He wanted to be in an area where there was some action, some restaurants, some stuff going on, where it wasn't too isolated," said Janssens, who, with her partner, has brokered deals in the city for the Mets' Moises Alou and former Ranger Jason Strudwick.

Last August, Wright, who had been renting a place in midtown, closed on a spacious $6 million penthouse suite with outdoor space at Infinity Flats, a new development at 21st Street and Broadway.

"There are some players who are in New York because it's where their job is, and in the off-season go back to their hometown or some place that they've decided to settle down," Janssens said. "But then there are the New York guys, who love the New York vibe and decided that this is home."

Athletes who reside in the city are the exception. According to six pro teams -- the Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets, Knicks and Rangers -- only about 35 of the 200 players on their rosters live in the city proper.

The reasons for choosing outer boroughs, New Jersey, Long Island, Westchester or Connecticut vary: some athletes need space for their young families; others are well-paid bachelors who nonetheless experience Manhattan sticker shock; locker-room advice and team culture can play a role; and proximity to stadiums and practice facilities is often paramount.

For players who choose Manhattan, options abound.

"If you want to be in a townhouse, loft in TriBeCa, anything," Janssens said. "And I think the thing about New York is people are really respectful about people's anonymity here."

While Wright chose a relatively low-rise, low-frills spot in the center of town, several Yankees, including Jason Giambi and Jorge Posada, reside in ritzy, full-service Upper East Side high-rises.

Two other Manhattan players, Hideki Matsui and Derek Jeter, enjoy the high-security comforts of the United Nations Trump Plaza on 46th Street and First Avenue.

"It's a full-service building, it has all the amenities, it has valet parking, it has great security and it's got proximity to the stadium," Bandier Koffman said.

With spectacular views, Megu restaurant and the World Bar, the U.N. Trump has it all. "You never have to leave the building," Janssens said.

But Jeter, like any wealthy Manhattanite, does not live in a high-living bubble. The notorious bachelor and his driver, for example, make an almost daily habit of buying grande triple cappuccinos at the Starbucks on 89th and First Avenue.

"He comes here all the time. This is his place," said Andy, a barista there who would not give his last name but who said Jeter is "friendly." "A lot of customers try to take his picture and stuff as he's trying to get his drink. If he's not in the mood to talk, he just doesn't talk."

Of course, not every player living in Manhattan bought their home.

"People coming in a question-mark contract are looking for something more transient," said Jeff Vogel, an associate broker for CitiHabitats who found an Upper West Side sublet for a pitcher who was a midseason Yankees acquisition in 2007. "They want something fluid. Something that if it doesn't pan out, they don't have an obligation to. … But they want to have something with the lifestyle that they're accustomed to."

Among pro athletes, Manhattan living wasn't always a rarity, said sports historian Bill Shannon, who remembers seeing ballplayers in the same subway car he would take to the Polo Grounds in the 1950s.

"A lot of them lived in residence hotels during the season," said Shannon, who estimated the 75-80 percent of athletes lived in Manhattan bachelor pads during the season, sometimes two or three together. "Because in those days, almost all athletes had jobs in the offseason."

Amanda Magnus contributed reporting.

The Rangers
With 18 of 22 skaters in Manhattan, are the most citified team, with a tradition of Upper West Side living and, more recently, apartments in Chelsea -- both neighborhoods are within easy range of Madison Square Garden.

The Knicks
The well-salaried players prefer spacious Westchester, where the Knicks and Rangers have a practice facility in Greenburgh (just two of the 18 Knicks in training camp live in Manhattan).

Mets and Yankees
With their baseball stadiums across the East River, approximately one-fifth of the Mets and one-third of the Yankees live in Manhattan, usually on the east side.

Jets and Giants
Between the 110 players on the New Jersey-based Giants and Jets, only one player, a Jet, lives in the city.

Related topic galleries: Homes, New York Mets, Major League Baseball, Moises Alou, United Nations, Jorge Posada, Jason Strudwick