Katie Lee and her new Water Mill home

Katie Lee, the ex-wife of Billy Joel and author of two cookbooks of her own, purchased a home in Water Mill for $3.5 million, about half-a-million less than the asking price, Newsday reported. The 6,700-square-foot, six-bedroom, six-and-a-half-bathroom home sits on two acres of land, and was listed by Kimberly Stengel and Dane Clark of Town & Country Real Estate.

Lee had been living in a Sagaponack beach home purchased by Joel when they were married and that home is now on the market for $16.75 million, a significant price cut from its initial $22.5 million asking price. Lee recently sold her Manhattan townhouse, at 23 Perry Street, for $11.65 million. [Newsday] [more]

Harrison Ford’s 206 West 17th Street apartment, John Madden’s 1 West 72nd Street apartment and Billy Joel’s Sagaponack home

Few things add to the cachet of a residential listing better than a recognizable owner, and Forbes gathered a list of the biggest stars whose homes are on the market. Harrison Ford’s $16 million Chelsea penthouse, John Madden’s Upper West Side apartment and Billy Joel’s Sagaponack oceanfront property each made the list (see photos above).

Ford, who starred in the original ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Indiana Jones’ series and spends most of his time in his Wyoming home, is listing his 5,664-square-foot apartment with a private roof deck at 206 West 17th Street for $16 million with Deborah Grubman and David Dubin of the Corcoran Group.
[more]

Billy Joel has slashed the price — again — on his Sagaponack home, according to Newsday. The four-bedroom, six-bathroom home is on the market for $18.5 million, down from $19.9 million. Biana Stepanian of the Corcoran Group is marketing the home, which Joel reportedly purchased for his soon-to-be-ex-wife Katie Lee. It was not immediately clear when the home, which was once owned by late actor Roy Schneider, hit the market. [Newsday]

Gabriel Byrne and a unit at 211 Elizabeth Street

The Roman & Williams-designed 211 Elizabeth Street condominium in Nolita has finally sold all of its 15 units, Curbed reported. The listings came on the market in April 2008, took a several-month hiatus from the market and came back in fall 2009. High-profile buyers at the building include Billy Joel and Gabriel Byrne, both of whom paid slightly below asking price for their two-bedroom apartments. In March, Joel paid $3.3 million for his, while Byrne paid $3.36 million in April for his.
[more]

Two walk-up residential apartment buildings in Little Italy — connected by the restaurant once frequented by the cast of “The Sopranos” and said to have inspired Billy Joel’s “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” — are for sale for a combined $15 million. The storied restaurant, Il Cortile, is owned and run by the Esposito family, which also owns the properties, on the corner of Mulberry and Hester streets. The family is looking to retain control of the restaurant by leasing it from a new owner, but reportedly would consider selling a stake in the business as well. CB Richard Ellis is marketing the buildings, which total 16,364 square feet. [WSJ]

[more]

It took just four hours for a jury to convict Natavia Lowery of murdering her boss and broker-to-the-stars Linda Stein. Natavia Lowery, 28, was found guilty today of second-degree murder and 21 counts of grand larceny, identity theft, forgery and petty larceny. She faces up to life in prison. Following an argument, Lowery brutally beat Stein, 62, to death Oct. 30, 2007 inside the Prudential Douglas Elliman broker’s 18th-floor penthouse apartment at 965 Fifth Avenue, between 77th and 78th streets. The prosecution’s case featured written and videotaped confessions in which Lowery said she beat Stein with a yoga stick, surveillance footage, phone records, bank records, cell phone tower and subway card records to track movement as well as witnesses. Stein was widely-known for her multi-million listings and celebrity clientele, including Billy Joel, Sting, Michael Douglas and Steven Spielberg, and her past as a manager to punk rock group the Ramones. TRD
[more]

From left: Mandy Stein, daughter of the late broker Linda Stein (middle), and defendant Natavia Lowery

A lawyer for Natavia Lowery, the woman charged with killing Linda Stein, a former celebrity real estate broker and punk rock manager, said yesterday his client falsely admitted to the murder to give the detectives who questioned her “what they wanted to hear.”
The lawyer, John Christie, said the detectives who investigated Stein’s murder invited his client, Lowery, 28, to meet with them in a diner in November 2007. She was then taken to the 7th police precinct and questioned for 10 hours. Lowery had gotten through life by telling people “what they wanted to hear,” Christie said, and she did the same that day, wishing to end the interrogation.
Stein, 62, was found bludgeoned on the floor of her Fifth Avenue apartment Oct. 30, 2007. Stein’s family sold 18C, Stein’s one-bedroom, one-bathroom penthouse apartment at 965 Fifth Avenue, for $1.045 million in August 2008.
Yesterday, the 13th floor courtroom of Manhattan’s State Supreme Court was packed for the opening statements. The case has attracted wide attention due to Stein’s celebrity status — her clients included Sting, Elton John, Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley, and Angelina Jolie. She co-managed the band the Ramones prior to becoming a broker.
Christie admitted Lowery was guilty of stealing money from Stein, but said she was not someone able to carefully plan Stein’s murder and hide all the traces. She could not have prevented the blood, which splattered up to three feet high, to get on her clothes, Christie said. DNA evidence found on the scene did not link Lowery to the crime.
“Natavia is not a savvy criminal,” Christie said. “She is not capable of doing what happened to Linda Stein.” [more]

From left: Natavia Lowery and Linda Stein

Jury selection continued today in the case of Natavia Lowery, the former personal assistant to Linda Stein who is charged with killing the celebrity real estate broker.

Twenty-eight potential jurors were brought into a courtroom on the 13th floor or Manhattan’s State Supreme Court before Justice Richard Carruthers.

Lowery, 28, dressed in a khaki top and dark brown pants, listened to her lawyer as the jurors were seated. Her mother, Lottie Lowery Walsh, sat in the back of the courtroom apparently praying.

Stein, 62, was found bludgeoned on the floor of her Fifth Avenue apartment Oct. 30, 2007. A week and half later, Lowery was arrested, and she allegedly confessed to killing Stein by hitting her multiple times with a yoga stick in a videotaped interview. She later recanted her statement. TRD [more]

Natavia Lowery, who stands accused of killing broker Linda Stein, for whom she worked as a personal assistant, resides in the “punitive segregation” section in Rikers Island because she was found to have thrown liquid at a guard, according to a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Correction. The type of liquid is still under investigation, the spokesperson said.
However, the guard was taken to the hospital to be cleaned and have her eyes checked out. The incident occurred Jan. 2. That same day, following the liquid toss, Lowery was relocated from her longtime cell — where she has spent more than two years — and put in a new one in the harsher
“punitive segregation” section. That part, which functions as sort of a jail within a jail, could be Lowery’s home until at least April. While it is, the spokesperson said, she can only leave her cell for an hour of mandated recreation a day, and, say, visits or religious services. Those in the general population at Rikers, meanwhile, are free to leave their cells during daylight hours. The trial was supposed to begin Monday morning. But just as soon as it started, in Manhattan’s State Supreme Court, Justice Richard Carruthers confusingly sent everybody home because Lowery was wearing an orange jumpsuit. Today, some of the mystery was cleared up. [more]

Natavia Lowery (left), one-time assistant to broker Linda Stein (right), is charged with Stein’s murder

Natavia Lowery, who is accused of murdering her boss, Linda Stein, the megawatt Prudential Douglas Elliman broker who died in October 2007, was a chronic thief with past employers, prosecutors said today in Manhattan’s State Supreme Court. In a preliminary hearing to lay out the trial’s ground rules, Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi spelled out new instances of stealing by Lowery, in addition to the already publicized case of identity theft involving a former Brooklyn roommate. For one, Lowery stole “thousands of dollars” from Planned Parenthood, where she temped before becoming Stein’s assistant, in a racket that involved buying items on a corporate credit card and then returning them for cash, Illuzzi said. The scam, which prosecutors discovered after going through receipts confiscated from Lowery, also prevented her from landing full-time employment with the agency, whose directors could testify in the trial. “Her skills and attitude weren’t ones that they thought were appropriate for permanent work,” Illuzzi told Justice Richard Carruthers. [more]