Livvy Dunne Tried to Buy Babe Ruth’s Former Apartment. An N.Y.C. Co-op Board Said ‘No’.

Real Estate|Livvy Dunne Wanted Babe Ruth’s Old Apartment. The Co-op Board Said No.

New York City co-op boards can be notoriously difficult to get past. It’s not just about being rich and successful: Madonna, Mariah Carey, Calvin Klein and Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr. have all been rejected. But the social media influencer and former gymnast Olivia Dunne was still shocked that she faced the same fate when trying to buy Babe Ruth’s former apartment on the Upper West Side.

Ms. Dunne, a New Jersey native known as Livvy, shared her story with her eight million TikTok followers this week. “I was gonna pay with cash, like I wanted this apartment bad. Like it got to the point where the realtor was so confident,” she said.

Ms. Dunne, 22, continued: “Then the week that I’m supposed to get my keys to my brand-new apartment, I get a call, the co-op board denied me. So pretty much the people in the building voted to not have me live there.”

The apartment at 345 West 88th Street would have been Ms. Dunne’s first real estate purchase, she said in the video. She had visited with her boyfriend, Paul Skenes, the star Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher, who, like her, was an athlete at Louisiana State University, where she made millions through endorsement deals. Ms. Dunne’s representatives and the building’s management office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Under the co-op structure, boards tend to have lots of power, more than those of condos. They have the right to turn down any applicant, as long as it’s not for reasons that are discriminatory or have to do with self-dealing from a board member.