Instagram’s head of fashion makes her four-bedroom duplex in Gramercy Park a social media star

BY C. J. HUGHES

Atop Meta executive has purchased a duplex in Manhattan’s Gramercy Park neighborhood.

Eva Chen, who handles fashion partnerships for Instagram, bought 242 E. 19th St., No. 5C-6C, for $4.6 million, according to public re-

CHEN WAS THE EDITOR-INChIEF OF SHOPPING TITLE LUCKY, THOUGH IT FOLDED TWO YEARS LATER cords. The trust that officially bought the unit lists two trustees, Chen and her husband, Thomas Bannister, the owner of a granola company.

The four-bedroom, three-and-a- half-bath prewar home, at Second Avenue, first came on the market about a year ago at $4.8 million. The 3,200-square-foot unit has hardwood floors, beamed ceilings and three fireplaces, according to a recent video Chen posted to Instagram featuring her hanging out in still-empty rooms. “When you finally find a new apartment, but the budget does not have a line item for furniture,” reads the caption.

Nick Gavin, the Compass agent who marketed the property, had no comment, and Chen could not immediately be reached.

In 2013 magazine publisher Condé Nast tapped Chen to be the editor-in-chief of the shopping title Lucky, though it folded two years later. Chen joined Instagram the same year. Last year she published a children’s book, I Am Golden, an affirming tale about being young and Chinese American that Chen has said was a response to antiAsian rhetoric.

Last Tuesday Meta, which was formerly known as Facebook, said it would let go of 10,000 workers in the next few months, which came on the heels of last fall’s announcement of 11,000 job cuts.

Tech companies have not been immune to some of the forces battering businesses in the past year, including high interest rates, recession fears and slackened demand. Layoffs have also dented Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet. ■