From LLNYC: Pity Harry Macklowe. According to his divorce attorney, Peter Bronstein, not only is the real estate developer $400 million in debt, he was also (kind of) homeless this summer.
In court yesterday, Bronstein faced off with Harry’s soon-to-be-ex-wife Linda, defending Harry’s purchase of an $11 million home in East Hampton in July.
His reasoning? Harry had to buy it because “he had nowhere to live!”
“What do you mean nowhere to live?” Linda demanded.
“Well nowhere to live in East Hampton,” Bronstein conceded.
Linda had commandeered the couple’s Georgica Pond house for the summer, thereby forcing Harry and his French fiancée Patricia Landau to buy something else. And they did — a few blocks away.
Of course, Linda is also no stranger to creature comforts; she spent $700,000 chartering boats because “the past year and half I was denied the use of my boat and I wanted to vacation and get some relaxation, which was supplied to me by sailing chartered boats.” She also bought a $2.7 million painting, and spent about $7.5 million on lawyers and other experts to support her case.
Linda is trying to prove that Macklowe’s claims of debt are false because he’s never going to have to pay the capital gains tax he’s saying he owes. She has called in tax lawyers to support her arguments.
“People in real estate don’t pay taxes,” a partner in a tax law firm testified. “The only loser to be very blunt is the IRS.” [NYP] — Isabel Schwab