I Hate That I Even Know What “Pied-A-Terre” Means

Hey, it must be fun to be a carefree empty nester, but your pied-à-terre is driving up the cost of my rental:

Once a pied-à-terre had a whiff of rarefied wealth, suggestive of an apartment kept by a well-traveled European baron, a Hollywood star or even a Greenwich, Conn., mogul who might use it to stash such amenities as a mistress.

But while second homes have always represented a sliver of the New York City real estate market, sales in this category are booming, and the surge is being driven to a surprising degree, realtors say, by a relatively new breed of buyer: hard-working, middle-aged suburbanites.

. . .

The people likely to own these hideaways are usually two-income couples whose suburban house has soared in price and who use the resulting equity to take out a loan to buy a Manhattan flat. From there, they can lap up the culture they starved for while raising the children.

“The baby boomers are on their second childhoods when their kids get out, which is a different attitude than their parents had,” said Dottie Herman, chief executive of Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate. “In the suburbs, most of life is about the PTA’s. Then all of a sudden the kids are older and they’re in their early 50’s, and they still have life and they want to go back to the city.”

These boomers might have simply gritted their teeth and driven back after an evening out on Broadway, but in many cases failing eyesight and a less patient disposition make drives back to Chappaqua or Short Hills less tolerable. At the same time, they are not quite ready to give up suburban friends and suburban pleasures, like golf and a backyard barbecue.