Museum heads living tax-free on boss’ dime

From left: Ellen Futter of the American Museum of Natural History, Thomas Campbell of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Glenn Lowry of MoMA

While the presidents of the American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art have undoubtedly disparate backgrounds, they do share one thing in common: they all live in tax-free housing, on their employers’ dime. The history museum’s Ellen Futter enjoys a $5 million Upper East Side apartment owned by her institution, while Thomas Campbell of the Met and Glenn Lowry of MoMA live in a museum-owned $4 million co-op and a $6 million condo, respectively, according to the New York Times. These situations sometimes raise eyebrows — and questions — experts say, pushing the boundary of what constitutes a work-live abode. In order for these cultural titans to live in their employer-provided housing without taxation they must prove that they were given no other option but to live there, experts say, and that the homes provide a legitimate benefit to their career. [NYT]