Sexting Congressman Anthony Weiner, who is seeking a leave of absence from the House of Representatives after a Twitpic-gone-awry, is apparently a supporter of New York real estate’s favorite kabbalah scholar: Rabbi Yishayahu Yosef Pinto. According to the Daily News, Weiner, who lives in Forest Hills, is a regular at Pinto’s classes and gatherings and has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Pinto’s other followers, including developers Zina Sapir and Haim Binstock. On the surface, it might seem as though Weiner could learn a lot from Pinto, who does not meet with women. But then again, the rabbi’s right-hand man, developer Ben Zion Suky, was linked to a bootleg porn video operation earlier this year. Weiner is now being called upon by House Democrats to resign, but even still, some might argue that Weiner isn’t even the Pinto follower having the worst week ever. [more]

From the South Florida website: South Florida was just as shocked as the rest of the sporting world when LeBron James and Chris Bosh decided to join the Miami Heat in July, but a banner year for Miami sports has turned into a solid one for the higher-end real estate market, with Miami Heat’s Big Three — James, Bosh and Dwyane Wade leading a year of high-profile purchases and sales by local athletes. The Heat stars weren’t the only ones buying or selling high-end properties in South Florida — athletes from baseball, football and basketball have purchased some of the area’s biggest and most expensive homes in 2010, led by Chris Bosh. See the list after the jump. [more]

From left: The Novogratz clan in front of 24 Thompson Street, two interior shots and Zydrunas Ilgauskas

Jennifer Ilgauskas, wife of NBA star Zydrunas Ilgauskas, says she’s a fan of the Bravo reality show “9 by Design.”
That makes sense, since the stars of the reality show — husband-and-wife design team Bob and Cortney Novogratz — built her house, Soho’s 24 Thompson Street. “I’ve never met them, but I’d love to,” said Ilgauskas, who purchased the five-story townhouse with her husband in 2006, shortly after the Novogratzes moved out. The owners of the New York City-based design firm Sixx Design, the now-famous Novogratzes have spent the last decade renovating and flipping Manhattan properties, all while moving their brood of seven children from house to house. They built 24 Thompson Street on the site of a previously empty lot.

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Dwyane Wade and his home in Pinecrest, a suburb of Miami

From the South Florida Web site: Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade missed the mark when he sold his 9,000-square-foot Pinecrest, Fla., mansion last week at a $1.5 million loss, according to research firm and brokerage Condo Vultures. The basketball star bought the nine-bedroom spread with wife Siohvaughn Wade at the height of the housing market, paying $3.98 million, or $440 per square foot, in August 2005. The couple is now reportedly going through a divorce. Last week the home, on Southwest 59th Place, sold for just $2.5 million, or $277 per square foot. Wade’s home was originally listed for $8.9 million in March 2007 and has a long history of price reductions. The price was first slashed to $6 million in August 2007, then to $4.99 million the following April. It was taken off the market in January 2009 and relisted in May 2009 at $3.3 million. The final price cut, to $2.9 million, was in Feburary 2010. TRD [more]

From left: John Crotty, Crotty playing for the Miami Heat in 1996-1997 (Source: miamiheat.com)

From the South Florida Web site: John Crotty had finished his career as a point guard for seven teams, including the Miami Heat, in the National Basketball Association. He was on a surfing trip to Costa Rica in 2004 with Michael Fay, a frequent partner on the waves and a good friend. Fay was a commercial real estate broker in Miami, and Crotty had been interested in the field. Driving back from the beach, he told Fay he wanted to move into the business after his 11-year basketball career. A few months later, the two spoke again, and before long, Crotty, 40, was learning the real estate world as a commercial associate at Fay’s firm in Miami, Colliers Abood Wood-Fay. Now, after 11 seasons in the NBA, including a stint with the Heat in 1996, the former point guard is carving a niche in the Miami commercial real estate market.

From the South Florida Web site: Local brokers say former Miami Heat basketball star Shaquille O’Neal has finally sold his Miami Beach mansion, listed first in 2005 for $35 million. The buyer is Vladislav Doronin, Naomi Campbell’s boyfriend. Shaq’s 20,000-square-foot mansion has been an object of fascination and a high-end symbol of the housing crunch ever since. No details on the sale have been released, though it reportedly closed Wednesday. O’Neal had reportedly arranged a November 2007 sale to baseball star Alex Rodriguez for a price between $25 million and $27 million, but deflation took its toll in both sports and real estate and the deal fell through. A November 2008 report put the manse back on the market for $19 million. At the start of this year, another broker listed it for $25 million, and the listing price was dropped in March to $22.5 million. [more]