Every so often, one of New York’s all but hidden real estate stories surfaces, and this one takes place directly across from the Met, where a grand Rosario Candela-designed duplex at the illustrious 990 Fifth Avenue, with a history as rich as its parquet floors, has emerged on the open market for the first time in nearly 100 years.
The story begins in 1927, when George and Annie Laurie Crawford moved into the brand-new apartment house that rose on the site of the original…

