UPDATED: March 18, 4:15 p.m.: The fight over daily fantasy sports in New York is just getting started, but it seems to already have produced at least one clear winner.
Randy Mastro, whom DraftKings tapped to lead its fight against the New York Attorney General’s office, threw down a cool $14.4 million for the six-bedroom townhouse at 21 East 83rd Street on the Upper East Side.
The recently-renovated, five-story, 5,130-square-foot Upper East Side manse features a grand entrance gallery with 21-foot-high ceilings, several fireplaces, a finished basement and a walled garden in the back.
Mastro, a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, served Mayor Rudy Giuliani as chief of staff and deputy mayor, and conducted an internal investigation into New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s role in the “Bridgegate” scandal. He bought the property from Merrill Lynch executive Michael Applebaum.
Brown Harris Stevens’ Brian Manning and Tim Schneider represented Mastro in the deal. Lisa Lippman and Scott Moore, also of BHS, represented Applebaum.
DraftKings, along with its competitor FanDuel, were served with cease-and-desist letters in November by AG Eric Schneiderman’s office, which accused them of operating illegal gambling operations. DraftKings has filed an appeal.
In January, DraftKings moved to sublease its 23,500-square-foot space at Alvin Flaster’s 400 Lafayette Street in Noho, which it had leased just a few months earlier, though the company denied the move was connected to its legal fight.
FanDuel, which also recently signed a deal to move to Rockrose Development’s 300 Park Avenue South, told The Real Deal in January that its plans haven’t changed.
The names of the brokers who worked on the deal were appended.