In the midst of maybe the worst recession ever, even "no news" can be considered good news for investors of late. But such is not the case everywhere. In New York City there are still a few people with money. Evidence of this is revealed in Curbed's Most Expensive NYC Homes of the Year. At least 20 buyers there forked over an impressive $539,395,130 for some impressive homes.

Taking a look at the most expensive home purchases in New York this year tells a bit of the "where'd the money go" tale - showing us a few well heeled Wall Street moguls and insulated LLC peeps shrugging off economic woes like Atlas, while the rest of us pick at slim pockets. But then $20 million bucks to some is pocket change to others. Here are a few of the highlights of 2010 real estate home sales.

1009 5th Ave. sold for $44 million to Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim. This century-old Beaux Arts townhouse is said to be the only private mansion left on 5th Avenue. Still, that many millions seems a steep price to pay for only 20,000 square feet in the heart of New York - uh hum.

15 Central Park West went for the paltry sum of $40 million forked over by a mystery buyer to mega developer William Zeckendorf, making the purchase the most expensive condo in the city, maybe anywhere? Coming in  just behind this Central Park sale is another prime sale at 1 Central Park West to Malaysian party boy Jho Lo for a reported $33 million and change. The foreclosed upon Trump International penthouse may look like a steal at any price, but millions more will be needed for renovating the dated showplace.

Moving away from Central Park for a bit, we find 400 W 12th St sold for a reported $31 million + by Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander. Then dropping down into the middle class of millionaire digs, those beneath $30 million,  we find 1 Central Park South at just under $29 million, 141 Prince St virtually stolen for §27,500,000, 778 Park Ave sacrificed at $26 million, and 115 Central Park West switching owners for a flat $25 million bucks.

Maybe the most interesting of these "budget" home sales shows us where some of that hedge fund money ventured off to. John Read Taylor added new meaning to the phrase "easy come easy go" when he paid $4.5 million over the asking price of the 11th floor apartment at 1068 Fifth Avenue. So much for George Soros clones, at least someone is benefiting from those lost trillions.

Finally, the last house on Curbed's prestigious list came it at a cool $20 million and sold to artist Jeff Koons.  13 E 67th St is a 10,000 square foot apartment is next door to Koons' other apartment he paid $12 million last year. Reportedly the artists intends to combine the two into one. There you have it.

If ever the American Dream were in need of rejuvenation, there are actually some people living it. When a man can afford to fork over $32 million smackaroos for a big apartment, after winning fortune and fame for balloon animal art - now that is a fairy tale. Our featured video reveals a bit of the luxury some of these properties offer, in particular One Central Park.