On the third floor of a building in SoHo, Jenna Lyons sat frantically scrubbing a pair of Lanvin shoes.

“This has been a long time coming,” said the 55-year-old former J. Crew president and “Real Housewives of New York City” star. “Every time I would buy something, I would realize that there was no place for it.”

So she did what many New Yorkers in this situation would do: host a stoop sale.

“When I moved to Brooklyn, that was the first time I’d ever seen a stoop sale. I thought it was so cute. People would just sit outside and watch people come by and haggle — I hope people don’t haggle me today,” said Ms. Lyons, who is originally from California.

The event ended up being a much larger, more stressful production than a typical New York stoop sale — and it didn’t take place on a stoop. Ms. Lyons had to institute a cover charge to help manage the crowd, and a “Real Housewives” film crew was present asking visitors to sign waivers. At first, Ms. Lyons said she pushed back against the filming — “I was like ‘please no, I just want to have a sale.’”

Up until a few minutes before it started, Ms. Lyons was pricing final items with her team buzzing around, putting up printed images of her wearing some of the items.