Lenny Kravitz Strolls Down Memory Lane on Upper East Side Video Tour: “Where It All Began”

Lenny Kravitz must have been feeling nostalgic when he returned to New York, where he grew up in the ’60s and ’70s, for the Video Music Awards. The musician and AD100 designer won Best Rock Video and performed at the MTV awards show, which was held in Elmont, New York, on September 11. Yesterday, the rock star shared a sentimental video tour of the Upper East Side block on which he was raised, captioned “Where it all began.”

The tour itself begins at 5 East 82nd Street, the 1901-built Beaux Arts-style home where Kravitz lived until age 10 with his parents, The Jeffersons star Roxie Roker and NBC news producer Sy Kravitz. “We lived on the third floor and it was a one-bedroom apartment,” the “Fly Away” singer says in the video. “My parents gave me the bedroom and they slept on the couch in the living room.” According to Zillow, the unit is still categorized as a one-bedroom dwelling. It was most recently listed earlier this year for $11,000 a month. The 1,800-square-foot apartment features a living room with a trio of tall windows and a wood-burning fireplace.

“I have so many beautiful memories of this place,” Kravitz continues. “One of the beautiful things about living in this neighborhood and on this street was that I had the Metropolitan Museum of Art as my backyard.” Indeed, the famed institution rests right at the end of the block. “I remember really loving the Egyptian room and especially being into the arms and armor section,” Kravitz told the New York Post in 2014.

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Also on the block: the artist’s former elementary school, the home where former NFL quarterback Joe Namath lived (“Right through that window was the parlor floor where I used to see him inside, partying,” Kravitz points out), and the diner where the budding talent learned to tie his shoes. “Just wanted to show you where I came from,” Kravitz says to close out the sweet tribute. These days, the multi-hyphenate spends most of his time far from his hometown. He owns properties in Paris, the Bahamas, and at a former coffee plantation in Brazil, which AD toured in 2019.