The new penthouse owner arrived at the stately Galleria building in Manhattan practically unnoticed, as if standing on a dark stage just before the curtain is raised. “I think I heard it from my neighbor, who heard it from the concierge,” said Emma Ruth Yulo-Kitiyakara, 78, a former resident in the building. David Copperfield was moving in. Years later, the building’s residents would be well aware — painfully aware — of the world-famous magician’s sprawling, four-floor penthouse apartment. It seemed to transform before their eyes from a showpiece of great wealth to an embarrassing eyesore to a leaky health hazard.

---

Persons: ”, Emma Ruth Yulo, David Copperfield Locations: Manhattan, “