Bloomberg transfers home to trust

Mayor Michael Bloomberg transferred his Upper East Side home to a private trust in his name, according to city property records published today.

The transfer from Bloomberg to the Michael R. Bloomberg Revocable Trust was listed as a “gift transfer” and was finalized May 12.

Bloomberg lives in the five-story Beaux-Arts mansion at 17 East 79th Street, which he purchased in 1986 for $3.5 million.

Another property that Bloomberg transferred to the trust was a fifth-floor condominium in 610 Park Avenue at 65th Street, which he bought in 2000.

Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser said the mayor made the transfer for estate planning purposes.

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Daniel Rubin, an estate planner and partner with the Manhattan firm Moses and Singer who was not familiar with the Bloomberg transfer, said that wealthy individuals often set up revocable trusts to protect their privacy.

He said a revocable trust does not confer tax benefits or protection from creditors, but does provide a shield from the public once the donor died. However, if the estate is held in a will, it becomes a public record.

“Mayor Bloomberg is somewhat of a celebrity therefore he may want to have the privacy,” he said.

Bloomberg lives at the limestone townhouse instead of Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence.

Bloomberg also owns two $40 million townhouses on East 78th Street
and Madison Avenue that he bought for the Bloomberg Family Foundation. Last September, he paid $41 million for the James Graham & Sons gallery building at 1014 Madison Avenue.