The sweet life of New York's super-rich

David H. Koch, the executive vice president of Koch Industries, is the 33rd richest person in the world, according to Forbes. His estimated net worth stands at roughly $12 billion. In 1994, Mr. Koch bought Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's apartment at 1040 Fifth Avenue, the entire 15th floor of the building, for $9.5 million. He and his wife, Julia, renovated it at an estimated cost of $5-10 million.

But, alas, as The New York Times reports, the times they are a-changin' in the Koch household. Julia is expecting their third child. And, well, "Ms. Onassis' former apartment will be too small for their expanded family. 'There's just no way we could fit another child in that apartment,' [Mr. Koch] said."

That's for sure. "The Fifth Avenue apartment has four bedrooms, two dressing rooms, a staff room, a library, living room, dining room, conservatory, two terraces, three fireplaces, five and a half bathrooms and a wine room." How could a family of five -- two humble parents and three small children -- possibly fit into that?

So the old apartment is now on the market for the lowly sum of $32 million and the Koches have bought a new apartment, a new home, at 740 Park Avenue for the even lowlier sum of $18 million. "It's time to move to a bigger space to accommodate the larger family," [Mr. Koch] said. The new apartment, a duplex, "has about double the space".

Does that mean eight bedrooms, six fireplaces, eleven bathrooms, and two wine rooms? Or is everything just a whole lot bigger?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not an anti-elitist. I don't necessarily begrudge the wealthy their wealth. And I know -- and I admit -- that I've been fortunate enough to enjoy luxuries that most people will never ever get to enjoy.

One just wonders in amazement at the casualness of it all, at the apparent lack of awareness of what real life is really like. Poverty is everywhere and yet the super-rich -- the Koches at least, nothing against them personally -- worry about how to fit their family into a $32 million dollar apartment. Most people worry about trying to put food on the table, about trying to pay the bills on time, about trying to get out of all that suffocating debt, about trying to raise their kids in a dangerous and uncertain world.

Most people just try to find some semblance of peace and contentment in their lives. The super-rich no doubt aim for peace and contentment, too, but at least they can do so in their own wine room, or in a cozy little conservatory, or on a terrace overlooking Central Park...

Tough life, eh?