Exclusive | A handsome Dakota associate near Yoko Ono and John Lennon’s home lists for $6.2 million

Imagine there is no heaven. It’s easy if you buy.

In New York’s popular Dakota co-op at 1 W. 72nd St., a four-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom residence is available for sale asking $6.2 million. But this is no ordinary list. The unit sits next door to Yoko Ono’s longtime home — the one she shared with her late husband John Lennon — The Post has learned.

The seventh-floor unit for sale, last owned by a man named Paul H. Epstein, according to property records, is now available for its next generation following his death in 2022, just weeks before his birthday his 82nd. Epstein bought the apartment in 2012 with his husband, Garry Parton, although the transfer tax filed with the city’s Department of Finance does not mention the price they paid.

Epstein, a lawyer whose clientele included Leonard Bernstein — who was also a Dakota resident — and Rodgers & Hammerstein, was an important figure in the city’s artistic community. His work in copyright law helped shape the careers of some of the most famous composers and choreographers of the 20th century.

The unit, like the distinctive ornate exterior of the building, offers a great sense of style. A formal gallery flows into the eight-room residence, showcasing one of the home’s five fireplaces.

The spacious living room, complete with another fireplace, offers sweeping views over the Upper West Side rooftops. Adjacent to this is a library, currently serving as a formal dining room, which holds a hidden wet bar.

Additional highlights include soaring 13-foot ceilings, intricate moldings and stained glass lining the walls, plus a dining room that overlooks Dakota’s courtyard.

This unit — represented by Daniela Kunen of Douglas Elliman — is the only home for sale at the 93-unit address, where turnover is extremely rare. Indeed, the only sale in the building so far this year was Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Chernow’s purchase of a three-bedroom unit for $4.99 million in April, records show.

While Yoko Ono may no longer reside in the Dakota full-time, she remains its most famous resident.

At 90, the artist and peace activist has since retired to a 600-acre farm in Franklin, New York, an estate she and Lennon bought in 1978.

Despite her departure from town, Ono’s relationship with Dakota continues. She first moved into the building in 1966 and stayed after Lennon’s death in 1980, when he was shot outside the entrance to the Dakota.

For decades, Ono’s presence at the Dakota was a beacon for fans and curious onlookers, contributing to the building’s mystique. The couple’s mansion — which at one point included five units used as guest accommodations, storage and a studio for Ono — made them fixtures of the Upper West Side.

The living space and studio alone encompassed nearly 6,000 square feet, underscoring the massive scale of their footprint in the building. It is unclear how much money has been spent in total over the years to carve out her home there.

Dakota’s history is as rich as its architecture. Built in 1884, it was America’s first luxury apartment building, offering efficient wealth at a time when the grand mansions of the Gilded Age were becoming a heavy thing of the past. The Dakota was designed by Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, who later designed the Plaza Hotel, in a German Renaissance style.

Over the years, Dakota has also become synonymous with names like Lauren Bacall, whose nine-room apartment fetched $21 million in 2015, a year after her death.

Dolly Lenz, a longtime luxury broker, said these units represent “the best deals in town, especially considering the significant pedigree associated with living in the Dakota,” she previously told The Post.

Although the building may lack the modern amenities of newer luxury developments, it offers something far more valuable: a direct link to the city’s cultural and architectural heritage.

The Dakota “doesn’t need to appeal to everybody,” Scott Cardinal, an architectural historian who has published several books on the building, previously told The Post. “All it needs is 100 people who think it’s great. I don’t think it will ever be difficult to find people.”