HGTV's Selling New York: Episode Six

HGTV's "Selling New York" Episode 6:

All in the Family

The theme of this week's HGTV series "Selling New York" (airdate Thursday April 22), is white elephants - apartments that in many cases are big and sitting.

Okay, that's not the formal theme; the formal theme is parents, and this time we have three potential deals: veteran agent Laurel Rosenbluth of Gumley Haft Kleier works with her daughter Meredith, who is considering moving back into the city; Core Group's Kirk Rundhaug works with an actress to help dispose of her parents' apartment, since they're never in the city, and GHK's Samantha Kleier Forbes needs the help of her mom to help close a deal with clients who are moving to the city.

I work as a real estate agent in New York, and I have to say, people really do move from the East Side to the West Side here, just not in this episode.

Properties seem even bigger than "Selling New York's" usual, and include a lot of recent big-deal conversions: we get a three-bedroom at Manhattan House in Lenox Hill; a two-bedroom at 50 Gramercy Park North, Ian Schrager's "hotel services" condo in Gramercy Park, where the maintenance is $7,000 a month, and a four-bedroom at Devonshire House in the Village.

Hmm, all prewars, come to think of it. But that's not mentioned, any more than the weird fact that there are no on-camera male clients in this episode. None.

What else? The actress customer, Noelle Beck -- a current star of "As the World Turns," and a vet of soaps such as "Loving" and "Central Park West" -- looks pretty and wears a lot of purple. Core's Kirk Rundhaug brings Reggie Arthur, a sort of energy shaman, to restore balance to a home. Michelle Kleier helps out her kid by taking a bunch of digital photos (because, y'know, there's never a listing broker around on a $5 million property when you need one). The Connecticut customer complains about how small 2,400 square feet is.

Real estate lesson: New York is either really easy or really hard if you're from out of town.

That's my take, what do other viewers think? Feel free to post comments below.

Coming Next Week: Episode 7 -- airs 9 p.m. ET Thursday, April 29
Read more:

• "Selling New York" Debuts on HGTV
• Nicolas Cage: Foreclosure Again for "Kick-Ass" Star
• Luxury Real-Estate Tips from Million-Dollar Listing's Madison Hildebrand
• Conan O'Brien's Apartment: Price Chop of 16 Percent