Has Madonna gone Gossip Girl and purchased a new home on the Upper East Side?

The New York Post is reporting that Madge has signed a contract to buy a four-story, Georgian-style townhouse on East 81st Street (seen here) for about $40 million (what recession?!). 

Sources say that the mansion is very over priced and that no residence in that area "has ever sold for $20 million, let alone $30 million — or ever will again," said one broker who asked not to be identified.

Another issue with the pad is that the nearby Lexington subway line apparently makes itself heard as it rumbles underground.

BUT, $40 mil will get you something in this town.  The double-wide mansion does boast 13 bedrooms and 14 bathrooms, a two-car garage, a 3,000-square- foot garden, nine fireplaces, an elevator and a wine cellar with a grotto. A grotto…sexy time!

It’s nice to know in these tough times that Madonna won’t have to take the stairs to her wine cellar, that would be inhuman!