From the Bridge: Million Dollar Charade? Behind a Reality TV Show in Brooklyn

I have an article in The Bridge today about the curious reality TV show, Million Dollar Listing New York, and the portrayal of how agent Ryan Serhant supposedly got the 550 Vanderbilt listing:

The article is headlined Million Dollar Charade? Behind a Reality TV Show in Brooklyn. Here's an excerpt:

The show’s narrative suggests that Serhant made a Hail Mary pitch to win the job as exclusive broker for the luxury condo project at 550 Vanderbilt Ave. Over lunch at nearby Morgan’s Brooklyn Barbecue with an executive from the building’s development company, he unspools a plan to invite hundreds of prospective agents and buyers to a grand smorgasbord from restaurants all around the building, based on the idea that he’s selling a neighborhood (Prospect Heights/Clinton Hill), not just the luxury condos.... 

The record, however, suggests that any such drama was long past. Serhant already had the job. A look at the reality behind the reality show, based on the building’s documents and public reports, illuminates how such shows bend time and space to portray decisions as more dramatic and transactions as more spontaneous than in ordinary life.

For the rest of the article, click here.

The screenshot shows the purported list price, which wasn't lowered until that number for nearly five months.