October 12, 2006 -- Bigtime businessmen, famous writers and even a Met coach live in the tony tower struck by the plane that carried Yankee pitcher Cory Lidle to his death yesterday.
The Belaire, a 54-story building at 524 E.72nd St., boasts 190 luxury condominiums on its top 32 floors, some of which sell for as much as $8 million and house the city's rich and famous.
Mystery author Carol Higgins Clark, once-jailed junk-bond king Ivan Boesky, former Bloomingdale's boss Marvin S. Traub and an heir to the wealthy Zeckendorf construction fortune have all called The Belaire home.
Met third-base coach Manny Acta spends the baseball season in an apartment in the 393,000-square-foot building. Other residents include publisher Marvin R. Shanken, who puts out the upmarket Cigar Aficionado and Wine Spectator magazines.
"We've got to feel sorry for everybody involved in it, whether they're a ballplayer or not," Acta said yesterday from Shea Stadium. "I feel really sorry that Cory was involved in it. I say the same about the co-pilot and anybody in the building at the time of the crash, because we're all human."
Acta was in the team's clubhouse preparing for last night's scheduled game when he heard his building had been hit.
"Every call I got, the first thing I did was I said 'I'm fine,' because I knew the call wasn't related to baseball. I said, 'I'm fine, I'm at work,' and I just hope everything works out for whoever's involved," he said.
Arthur Zeckendorf, who lives on 42nd floor, called the accident "tragic."
Doctors' offices, a sports-medicine complex and the home residences of 103 physicians occupy the first 22 floors of the building, owned by the Hospital for Special Surgery. The football Giants' team doctor, Russell Warren, was in the building at the time.
"It's hard to compare it to fiction," said a shocked Clark, the daughter of famed writer Mary.
Clark said she was in a cab on her way home to her 38th-floor apartment when she saw billowing smoke.
"All of a sudden, police cars were speeding by us, and we saw this incredible black smoke," she said.
Frank Williams, the architect who designed the building, stood next to The Belaire at 3:30 p.m. as its 40th and 41st floors burned.
He told The Post he was confident the concrete frame could withstand the destruction.
"It's no problem. It's a very strong concrete building. It's designed to take impact," Williams said.
mark.bulliet@nypost.com
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