The house, which is located on the upper east side close to Central Park, was the second most expensive townhouse bought in the city last year.

The most expensive, on the same street, East 64th, was the former home of murdered fashion designer Gianni Versace, and sold for $30m. Quinlan's property investment firm Quinlan Private has also bought a property on East 64th which has become its New York offices.

Former tax inspector Quinlan has become a legendary figure in property investment, assembling consortia of wealthy Irish people to buy landmark buildings in London and eastern Europe.

In 2004, Quinlan Private paid 1.1bn to buy the Savoy hotel group, netting a 60m profit just eight months later after it sold part of the operation to Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal.

The most expensive New York townhouse ever sold was acquired last week for $40m by an immigrant from the former Soviet Union who worked as a taxi driver in the city when he arrived in the 1970s.