What would the legal process look like to seize and sell a privately owned skyscraper in New York after a civil judgment?

1. Turning a money judgment into a lien against real estate

A judgment alone does not automatically attach to land; the creditor must obtain a transcript of the judgment and docket it in the county where the skyscraper is located in order to create a judgment lien against real property ^{[1] [2] [6]}. Once docketed, that transcript becomes a recorded lien that can prevent sale or refinancing of the building until the judgment is satisfied or otherwise resolved ^[6].

2. Finding assets and engaging an enforcement officer

Before any execution the creditor must identify the debtor’s assets and typically hire an enforcement officer — a county sheriff or a city marshal — who has statutory authority to pursue seizures and who will request an execution from the court to begin collection efforts ^{[7] [8]}. The enforcement officer may also use information subpoenas to discover assets and bank accounts and will not act until required fees are paid in advance ^{[9] [8]}.

3. Docketing, execution and the legal lever for real property

For real property specifically, the transcript-docketing step in Supreme Court is a prerequisite to effectuate a lien and to allow court-ordered remedies against land; city or lower-court judgments must be transcribed and docketed in the Supreme Court of the county where the property sits ^[2]. After docketing, the creditor can seek an execution that either restrains the property or, if followed through, leads to enforcement steps culminating in sale procedures under CPLR Article 52 ^{[4] [1]}.

4. Levy, seizure mechanisms and the execution sale

CPLR law distinguishes levies by service (paper restraint creating a lien) from levies by seizure (physical taking of deliverable personal property), and while tangible personal items can be seized on the spot, real property is typically handled by court-directed sale procedures culminating in a public auction or execution sale where proceeds are applied to the judgment ^{[4] [1] [3]}. The sheriff or marshal conducts the sale, accounts for disbursements, and returns any surplus to the debtor after satisfying the debt and sale expenses ^{[3] [10]}.

5. Legal limits, competing interests and exemptions

Practical and legal limits make a forced sale of a major commercial building complex: New York law contains exemptions and protections for certain assets and procedural safeguards that can delay or block seizures (CPLR exemptions referenced) and other encumbrances—prior mortgages, liens, tax claims and secured creditors—will have priority over a newly docketed judgment lien, reducing recoverable value and complicating sale outcomes ^{[1] [6]}. Creditors also face up‑front enforcement fees and statutory procedures that can make seizure rare in practice for high‑value real property ^{[9] [5]}.

6. Timeline, costs and likely outcomes

The sequence—docketing, discovery, execution request, sheriff/marshal action, potential turnover proceedings, and then an auction—can take months to years and will incur enforcement fees, possible legal contests by the debtor and other lienholders, and costs of sale; if the auction proceeds exceed the judgment and costs, a surplus is returned to the property owner ^{[8] [3] [10]}. While law provides a clear statutory framework to seize and sell real estate, commercial realities—priority liens, procedural protections, the expense and rarity of forced sales—mean creditors often seek settlements, foreclosure-type negotiated solutions or other remedies instead of a straight execution sale ^{[6] [5]}.