The Hit Factory was a recording studio

Recording studio

A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...

 in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 famous for its clientele. It was officially closed for business April 1, 2005 whereas other Hit Factory studio locations remained open, such as in Miami, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

.

History

The New York facility was purchased from Jerry Ragovoy

Jerry Ragovoy

Jordan "Jerry" Ragovoy was an American songwriter and record producer.His best-known composition "Time Is on My Side" was made famous by The Rolling Stones, although it had been recorded earlier by Kai Winding and Irma Thomas...

 by Edward Germano on March 6, 1975.

From 1989 to 1993, the company also operated The Hit Factory London. This facility is now Sony

Sony

, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....

's Whitfield Street Studios
In 1999, The Hit Factory purchased Criteria Recording

Criteria Studios

Criteria Studios is a music-recording studio in Miami, Florida, started in 1958 by Mack Emerman.In 1999, The Hit Factory purchased Criteria Studios, revamping and reopening the studios under the new name The Hit Factory Criteria Miami.-Notable artists:...

 in Miami, Florida

Miami, Florida

Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...

, revamping and reopening the studios under the new name The Hit Factory Criteria Miami.

After Germano's death in 2003, the business was taken over by his wife Janice Germano.

Hit Factory was officially closed for business April 1, 2005. The last album to be recorded there was Octavarium

Octavarium (album)

Octavarium is the eighth studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater. Released on June 7, 2005, it was the band's final release with Atlantic Records. Recorded between September 2004 and February 2005, the album holds the distinction of being the last album ever recorded at The...

 by Dream Theater

Dream Theater

Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would...

. The business' base of operations moved to the remaining Hit Factory Criteria Miami in March 2005. The New York Daily News reported:

Big-name studios like The Hit Factory once had a lock on the recording industry, but technological advances have made it cheaper and easier for stars to build their own state-of-the-art facilities, often in their homes. In a statement, The Hit Factory acknowledged the industry is moving away from large-scale studios to "destination" locations like Miami that offer sunny weather and a hot nightlife.

In December 2006 Stribling and Assocs, a New York real-estate broker, began marketing The Hit Factory as a luxury condominium. Twenty-seven loft-style apartments went on sale, including six duplexes. Prices started at about $1 million. The developers have said that there will continue to be rehearsal space for musicians on the ground floor.

Locations

The studios occupied several spaces in and around Times Square and Midtown West after Germano's purchase. Locations included "Hit Factory Times Square" at 130 West 42nd Street, "Hit Factory Broadway," at 237 West 54th Street

54th Street (Manhattan)

54th Street is a two-mile-long, one-way street traveling west to east across Midtown Manhattan.-West Side Highway:*The route begins at the West Side Highway . Opposite the intersection is the New York Passenger Ship Terminal and the Hudson River...

 and finally the flagship facility at 421 West 54th Street.

The Hit Factory Broadway, located between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, was a four studio complex which housed a mix of Solid State Logic

Solid State Logic

Solid State Logic is a manufacturer of high-end mixing consoles and recording studio hardware headquartered in Begbroke, Oxfordshire, UK.- Company information :...

 and Neve VR-series consoles. The facility at 421 West 54th street was opened in 1992 and all operations moved there, while Hit Factory Broadway studios continued to be booked. To avoid confusion, studio names at the new location were given numbers instead of the more-traditional letters. The Hit Factory Broadway closed in early 2002, as new studios were planned in the main facility.

The main studio facility at 421 West 54th Street was a mega-complex, occupying most of a 100,000+ square foot building. Five dedicated floors (including basement) housed five recording studios, private lounges for each studio, a mastering business Hit Factory Mastering with several suites, numerous production rooms, a full in-house rental company The Rental Company, as well as operations - large offices, tech shop, tape library and storage areas.

Studio 1 occupied the entire top floor of the building. The main studio studios wood floors spanned approximately 50 by 50' feet with a 30' ceiling height, for which the roof was raised from the original structure. It could accommodate a 60 piece orchestra. Four overdub booths of varying size added extra flexibility during tracking. The control room was designed for the comfort of groups, yet similarly equipped as the other studios with a 80-input Solid State Logic

Solid State Logic

Solid State Logic is a manufacturer of high-end mixing consoles and recording studio hardware headquartered in Begbroke, Oxfordshire, UK.- Company information :...

 9000J as the centerpiece. The lounge was also a flexible space, with room for a large orchestra or cast party, coat room, green room, office, production room, gym and several storage areas. The large windows faced 54th Street with a clear view of the Hudson River, and Times Square all the way to the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

On July 24, 2002, it opened Studios 6 and 7, complete with Solid State Logic

Solid State Logic

Solid State Logic is a manufacturer of high-end mixing consoles and recording studio hardware headquartered in Begbroke, Oxfordshire, UK.- Company information :...

 80-input XL9000K consoles. Each Studio contained a 48-channel Pro Tools

Pro Tools

Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation platform for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, developed and manufactured by Avid Technology. It is widely used by professionals throughout the audio industries for recording and editing in music production, film scoring, film, and television...

 MIXPlus system, a Sony

Sony

, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....

 3348 HR, two Studer

Studer

Studer is a Swiss manufacturer of professional audio equipment, founded in Zurich in 1948 by Willi Studer. It is known primarily for the design and manufacture of analog tape recorders and mixing consoles. Studer also produce other technology solutions, such as telephony management systems and...

 A827s, Lexicon 960L and 480L reverbs, and outboard racks tailored for surround mixing. Studio 7 was designed as a mix/overdub room, with a small booth adjacent to the control room. Custom Augspurger monitors (dual 15" TAD drivers, horns and 18" hidden stereo subs) were custom painted bright red with matching furniture in the lounge. Studio 6 had a silver color scheme, also with custom Augspurgers and silver credenza ends in the control room, and a circle Hit Factory Studios logo at the back of studio. Studio 6 featured a generous tracking room and overdub booths, all utilizing floor-to-ceiling glass for uninhibited sight lines between rooms. In addition to the views, each room in the studio has floating floors - separated and isolated from one another.

Commercial recordings

In August 1994, Dr. John

Dr. John

Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider...

 recorded a spontaneous and furious series of jingles for the nascent Crown Casino of Louisiana, a riverboat to be based at Luling, Louisiana

Luling, Louisiana

Luling is a census-designated place in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 11,512 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Luling is located at and has an elevation of ....

.

After arriving at the studio, Dr. John wrote lyrics, composed music, and recorded a jingle within two days with a ten-piece group and several backup vocalists, despite a cold acquired in Europe several days before the session.

The working session included vocalist Lani Groves of Steely Dan

Steely Dan

Steely Dan is an American rock band; its core members are Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop...

 fame. The recordings were managed and mixed by Brad Broussard of Nexxt Productions, from Lafayette, Louisiana

Lafayette, Louisiana

Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...

.

The Crown Casino Venture failed before the gaming riverboat was opened, and several one of a kind audio recordings of Dr. John made at the Hit Factory are of indeterminate status, presumed in the Crown Casino or Nexxt Productions intellectual property vault.

Contradictory reports about John Lennon's last recording session

After the death of John Lennon, on December 8, 1980, public awareness of the Hit Factory increased; Lennon's final album had been recorded at Hit Factory's Times Square studio at 353 West 48th Street. Mourners and music fans around the world read accounts of the murder in newspapers on the days following the shooting, and the Hit Factory was mentioned in some of these publications. However, there are contradictory reports as to whether he was recording at the Hit Factory or the nearby Record Plant the day he was murdered. Most publications cite the Record Plant as the location. Witnesses present with John, including his producer Jack Douglas

Jack Douglas (record producer)

Jack Douglas is an American record producer. He was born in New York City. Starting out as folk musician and performer, he worked on Robert Kennedy's senatorial campaign as a song-writer. Douglas then moved to England and joined a succession of bands before returning to New York to attend the...

, cite the Record Plant as the studio where he spent his time recording and mixing tracks the evening of the murder. However, Keith Badman in his reference book "The Beatles: After the break-up 1970-2000" states that Lennon had indeed been at the Hit Factory the night of his murder. He also references that Lennon had been at the studio the last several days working on and mixing tracks for Yoko. There is photographic evidence of John and Yoko at the Hit Factory on December 6, 1980 participating in a BBC interview with Andy Peebles, which implies that this was the studio being used by John around this time.

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• Clay Aiken
  Clay Aiken
  Clayton Holmes "Clay" Aiken is an American singer, songwriter, actor, producer and author who began his rise to fame on the second season of the television program American Idol in 2003. RCA Records offered him a recording contract, and his multi-platinum debut album Measure of a Man was released...
  
  
• Barbra Streisand
  Barbra Streisand
  Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
  
  
• Paul Simon
  Paul Simon
  Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
  
  
• Carly Simon
  Carly Simon
  Carly Elisabeth Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records, and has since been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for her work...
  
  
• Timbaland
  Timbaland
  Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
  
  
• T-Pain
  T-Pain
  Faheem Rasheed Najm , better known by his stage name T-Pain, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, and actor, currently signed to Young Money Entertainment. His debut album, Rappa Ternt Sanga, was released in 2005. In 2007, T-Pain released his second studio album Epiphany,...
  
  
• Utada Hikaru
  Utada Hikaru
  , known by her stage name Utada in America and Europe, is a Japanese-American singer, song writer, arranger, and producer. Since the release of her Japanese debut album First Love, which went on to become the best-selling album in Oricon history, Utada has had three of her Japanese studio albums...
  
  
• U2
  U2
  U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
  
  
• Luther Vandross
  Luther Vandross
  Luther Ronzoni Vandross was an American singer-songwriter and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums and won eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times...
  
  
• Stevie Wonder
  Stevie Wonder
  Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
  
  
• Danja
• Maná
  Maná
  Maná is a pop rock band from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, whose career has spanned more than three decades. They have earned three Grammy Awards, seven Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards Latin America, five Premios Juventud awards, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards and 13 Premios Lo...
  
  
• The Corrs
  The Corrs
  The Corrs are an Irish band which combine pop rock with traditional Celtic folk music. The brother and sisters are from Dundalk, Ireland. The group consists of the Corr siblings: Andrea ; Sharon ; Caroline ; and Jim .The Corrs came to international prominence with their performance at the...
  
  
• The Scorpions
  Scorpions (band)
  Scorpions are a heavy metal/hard rock band from Hannover, Germany, formed in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who is the band's only constant member. They are known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and many singles, such as "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel", "Still...
  
  
• Six Feet Under
  Six Feet Under (band)
  Six Feet Under is an American death metal band from Tampa, Florida, formed in 1993. The band was originally a side project by Cannibal Corpse vocalist Chris Barnes with guitarist Allen West of Obituary...
  
  
• 50 Cent
  50 Cent
  Curtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
  
  
• The Verve Pipe
  The Verve Pipe
  The Verve Pipe is an American rock band from East Lansing, Michigan. It was formed in 1992 by Brian and Brad Vander Ark, Brian Stout and Donny Brown.-History:...
  
  
• Diego Torres
  Diego Torres
  Diego Antonio Caccia Torres , is an Argentine Grammy Award-nominated pop singer and composer.-Biography:Diego Torres was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the son of Argentine singer Lolita Torres...
  
  
• Wu-Tang Clan
  Wu-Tang Clan
  The Wu-Tang Clan is a hip-hop group from Staten Island that consists of RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. They are frequently joined by fellow childhood friend Cappadonna, a quasi member of the group...
  
  
• Tech N9ne
  Tech N9ne
  Aaron Dontez Yates , better known by his stage name Tech N9ne , is an American rapper from Kansas City, Missouri. In 1999, Yates and Travis O'Guin founded the record label Strange Music. Throughout his career, Yates has sold over one million albums and has had his music featured in film,...
  
  
• Young Zae
• Lil Wayne
  Lil Wayne
  Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. , better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included...
  
  
• Bow Wow

Albums

• Talking Heads
  Talking Heads
  Talking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...
  
   album Fear of Music
  Fear of Music (album)
  Fear of Music is the third studio album by American New Wave band Talking Heads, released on 3 August 1979 on Sire Records. It was recorded at locations in New York City between April and May 1979 and was produced by the quartet and Brian Eno. The album entered the Billboard 200 in the United...
  
   in 1979.
• Bruce Springsteen
  Bruce Springsteen
  Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
  
  's album Born in the U.S.A.
  Born in the U.S.A.
  Born in the U.S.A. is the seventh studio album by American rock singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on June 4, 1984. A critical and commercial triumph, it found Springsteen marking a departure in his sound...
  
  .
• John Lennon
  John Lennon
  John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
  
   and Yoko Ono
  Yoko Ono
  is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
  
  's album Double Fantasy
  Double Fantasy
  Double Fantasy is an album released by John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, in 1980. Though initially poorly received, the album is notable for its association with Lennon's murder three weeks after its release, whereupon it become a worldwide commercial success, and went on to win the 1981 Album...
  
    in 1980.
• Michael Jackson
  Michael Jackson
  Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
  
  's album Bad
  Bad (album)
  Bad is the seventh studio album by American songwriter and recording artist Michael Jackson. The album was released on August 31, 1987 by Epic/CBS Records, nearly five years after Jackson's previous studio album, Thriller, which went on to become the world's best-selling album...
  
    in 1986.
• Six Feet Under
  Six Feet Under (band)
  Six Feet Under is an American death metal band from Tampa, Florida, formed in 1993. The band was originally a side project by Cannibal Corpse vocalist Chris Barnes with guitarist Allen West of Obituary...
  
   - True Carnage
  True Carnage
  True Carnage is the fourth album by death metal band Six Feet Under. The album contains fan favourites such as "The Day the Dead Walked", "One Bullet Left" and "Sick and Twisted".-Track listing:#"Impulse to Disembowel" - 3:11...
  
  
• Jennifer Lopez
  Jennifer Lopez
  Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
  
  's album This Is Me... Then
  This Is Me... Then
  This Is Me... Then is the third studio album by American recording artist Jennifer Lopez, released on November 19, 2002 by Epic Records. The album debuted at number six on the U.S. Billboard 200 selling 314,000 copies during its first week, then propelled to number two two months later remaining...
  
  .
• The first album recorded in the facility was Songs in the Key of Life
  Songs in the Key of Life
  Songs in the Key of Life is the 13th album by American recording artist Stevie Wonder, released September 28, 1976, on Motown Records. It was the culmination of his "classic period" albums. An ambitious double LP with a 4-song bonus EP, Songs in the Key of Life became among the best-selling and...
  
  , by Stevie Wonder
  Stevie Wonder
  Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
  
  .
• The Rolling Stones
  The Rolling Stones
  The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
  
  ' album Emotional Rescue
  Emotional Rescue
  Emotional Rescue is the 15th British and 17th American studio album by The Rolling Stones, released in 1980. Upon release, the album topped the charts in both the US and UK.-History:...
  
  .
• Paul Simon
  Paul Simon
  Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
  
  's album Graceland
  Graceland (album)
  Graceland was Paul Simon's highest charting album in the U.S. in over a decade, reaching #3 in the national Billboard charts, receiving a certification of 5× Platinum by the RIAA and eventually selling over 14 million copies, making it Simon's most commercially successful album...
  
  .
• Patti Smith
  Patti Smith
  Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
  
  's album Dream of Life
  Dream of Life
  Dream of Life is an album by Patti Smith, released in June 1988 on Arista Records. It was her first album after the dissolution of The Patti Smith Group. Lead single "People Have the Power" received some album-oriented rock airplay at the time, and later was revived by Bruce Springsteen as a theme...
  
  .
• Ruslana
  Ruslana
  Ruslana Stepanivna Lyzhychko is a World Music Award winning and MTV Europe Music Award nominated artist, and the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2004....
  
  's album Wild Energy
  Wild Energy (album)
  Wild Energy is Ruslana's second English album, released in Canada on 2 September and in Europe on 10 October 2008. Wild Energy is the English version of Amazonka.-About the album:...
  
  
• Christina Aguilera
  Christina Aguilera
  Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...
  
   - Back To Basics
  Back to Basics (Christina Aguilera album)
  Back to Basics is the third studio album by American recording artist Christina Aguilera, first released on August 10, 2006 by RCA Records...
  
  
• The Notorious B.I.G.
  The Notorious B.I.G.
  Christopher George Latore Wallace , best known as The Notorious B.I.G., was an American rapper. He was also known as Biggie Smalls , Big Poppa, and The Black Frank White .Wallace was raised in the Brooklyn borough...
  
  's album Ready to Die
  Ready to Die
  Ready to Die is the debut album of American rapper The Notorious B.I.G., released September 13, 1994 on Bad Boy Records. The first release on the label, it features production by record producer and Bad Boy founder Sean "Puffy" Combs, Easy Mo Bee, Chucky Thompson, DJ Premier, and Lord Finesse,...
  
  .
• Lil' Kim
  Lil' Kim
  Kimberly Denise Jones , better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper and actress who was a member of the group Junior M.A.F.I.A.....
  
  's album Hard Core.
• Veronica Romeo
• Robert Palmer Riptide
  Riptide (album)
  Riptide is the ninth solo album by the British singer Robert Palmer, released in November 1985. It featured his hit single "Addicted to Love" which reached #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1986, helped by a memorable music video...
  
   in 1985
• The last album recorded in the facility was Octavarium
  Octavarium (album)
  Octavarium is the eighth studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater. Released on June 7, 2005, it was the band's final release with Atlantic Records. Recorded between September 2004 and February 2005, the album holds the distinction of being the last album ever recorded at The...
  
  , by Dream Theater
  Dream Theater
  Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would...
  
  .
• Diego Torres
  Diego Torres
  Diego Antonio Caccia Torres , is an Argentine Grammy Award-nominated pop singer and composer.-Biography:Diego Torres was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the son of Argentine singer Lolita Torres...
  
  's album Distinto
  Distinto
  -Charts:-Sales and certifications:...
  
  .

Home to Carmelo Anthony

In 2011, New York Knicks

New York Knicks

The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...

 basketball player Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo Kiyan Anthony , nicknamed "Melo", is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association...

 and his wife, entertainer La La Vazquez

La La (entertainer)

Alani Vazquez Anthony is an American actress, disc jockey, and television personality.-Early years:Vazquez's parents were both Nuyorican. They lived in Brooklyn, where Alani, Vazquez's brother, and her two sisters were born...

, moved into a penthouse apartment in the W. 54th Street condominium building.