The raging bull is going the distance with a Hudson Valley town looking to raise his real estate taxes.
Robert De Niro has found himself in an extended legal battle with Gardiner, N.Y., where he owns a 78-acre property.
The conflict centers on De Niro’s tax bill on the property in the small farming community. The conflict is ongoing and neither the town nor the trust — Riverside Trust is the entity that owns the property — are backing down.
Riverside Trust bought the property in 1997 for $1.5 million. The purchase included an 18th-century farmhouse with two additions that included a total of six bedrooms, seven bathrooms and 2,700 feet of frontage overlooking the river, according to the New York Times. Over time, the trust added 20 acres to the property, the newspaper reported, and constructed a recreation center that includes a game room, a gym, a basketball court and more. Court papers have described it as a town within a town, the newspaper reported. The trust challenged the $6 million property assessment in 2010.
The trust valued the property at $4 million, the newspaper reported. The town actually argued that the original assessment had been too low and valued the estate at closer to $9 million.
Currently, taxes on the property are $170,000 per year, based on the $6 million assessment. If the trust wins the case, that bill would be reduced by $57,000. [NYT] — Claire Moses