The battle for the soul of the Hamptons: “‘We have to find positive ways to move forward and reclaim our Montauk,’ said Diane Hausman, chairwoman of Montauk’s advisory committee to the town board. ‘We’re not going to do that by catering to party animals.’”
Here's What a Party for Elite White iPhone Daters Looks Like
Have you heard of “The League”? It’s like Tinder, but for white people people who fancy themselves “elite” and aspire to white collar crime. Business Insider, a website run by an actual disgraced banker, recently attended a party thrown by The League.
Hamptons Man Busted For Growing Pot After Shooting Neighbor's Pool
A Hamptons weed grower and his girlfriend got busted for felony possession of marijuana and misdemeanor gun possession last month after the man accidentally shot his neighbor's above-ground pool.
The Return of the Montauk Grifter
Dan Kaufman—also known, variously, as Dan Kay, Dan Katze, and the Montauk Grifter—is currently awaiting trial in Manhattan on grand larceny charges for allegedly conning a tech company out of $20,000. He also faces hearings later this month in Brooklyn for probation violations relating to a prior grand larceny…
How the Montauk Grifter Infiltrated the World of Hell's Kitchen
Mystery solved, sort of: It seems reasonably clear to me that Daniel Kaufman, a.k.a., Dan Kay, a.k.a. Dan Katze, a.k.a. the Busted Chef, a.k.a. the Montauk Grifter, never actually worked as a producer on Hell's Kitchen, as he repeatedly claimed to the people he conned. But he definitely managed to convince several of…
It Looks Like the Montauk Grifter Conned Gordon Ramsay, Too
Yesterday, we brought you the tale of Daniel Kaufman, a.k.a. Dan Kay, a.k.a. Dan Katze, the preternaturally prolific conman who told his victims, among many other things, that he was a world-class chef and a producer on Hell's Kitchen and Chopped—even though he can't cook. Since then, we've learned that he probably…
The Montauk Grifter: How One Con Man Used OkCupid for Fun, Fraud, and Profit
He is Dan Kaufman, Dan Kay, Dan Katze. He is a celebrity chef, an internet entrepreneur, a television producer. He has worked for Apple, Google, AOL, the Rainbow Room. He hangs out with Steve Case, Gordon Ramsey, Tim Armstrong. He's a world-class surfer, a AAA baseball legend, the founder of a seminal punk band. He's…
Cynthia Nixon Buys; Anderson Cooper Renovates
• Cynthia Nixon and her fiancée, education activist Christine Marinoni, have picked up a new weekend home: The couple are putting down $1.7 million for a 1,400-square-foot waterfront cottage in Montauk. [Newsday]
• Investment banker Lewis van Amerongen has gone into contract to sell his five-story townhouse at 13 East…
Blog Posts That Make You Go *Sigh*
Long Island's Area 51? Presented without comment: The Montauk Monster U.F.O. Balls Conspiracy.
Real Estate Mogul Revealed as Buyer of Bernie Madoff's Montauk Coke Den
Billionaire real estate mogul Steve Roth has been unmasked as the lucky winner in the bidding for Bernie Madoff's Montauk $9.4 million beach house.
Bernie's Montauk Mystery Buyer Revealed
Jann Wenner Buys in Montauk; Whitney Lists in Jersey
• Jann Wenner and his partner, Matt Nye, will soon be moving into new digs in Montauk. The founder of Rolling Stone and publisher of Us Weekly and Men's Journal is paying $11.9 million for a 6,300-square-foot home on Old Montauk Highway. The waterfront property had been been originally listed for $14.9 million. [NYP, …
Madoff Home Fetches $9.4 Mil; Ridley Sells at 15 CPW
• A month after it was reported that Bernie Madoff's Montauk home had gone into contract, an unidentified buyer has closed on the purchase of the oceanfront manse. The five-bedroom, 3,000-square-foot home, which had been listed for $8.75 million, ended up selling for $9.41 million. [ABC, NYDN]
• Writer/director John…
Bernie Madoff's Beach House Sale Closes At $9.4M: Better Than Expected!
Bernie Madoff's Montauk digs went for $9.4M! Originally listed at $8.4M, the Corcoran Group's apparently the U.S. Marshals' favorite real estate agency. Proceeds go straight into to a Madoff victims fund, no word on the buyer. But the quotes? Priceless.
Kelly Klein Spreads Out, Gittis Estate Goes into Contract
• Kelly Klein, Calvin Klein's second ex-wife and a photographer, horse enthusiast, and social fixture, has paid $2.091 million for a two-bedroom co-op at 2 West 67th Street, the building that she's resided in for years. [Cityfile]
• The Southampton mansion once owned by Howard Gittis, the right-hand man to Ron Perelman
Madoff's Montauk House Sells
Bernie Madoff's home in Montauk, which went up for sale two weeks ago, has found a buyer. ABC News reports the beachfront home has been sold to an unidentified person in an all cash deal "over the asking price," according to Joan and Raymond Hegner of the Corcoran Group. Interest in the fraudster's property was "fast…
Jennifer Esposito Lists on East 10th
• Jennifer Esposito is looking to sell in the Village. The actress has put her one-bedroom apartment at 23 East 10th Street on the market, along with the one-bedroom co-op she owns upstairs. The two apartments, which Esposito once planned to combine into a duplex, are currently listed for a combined $1.435 million. […
The Bright Spot at Bernie's Montauk House
Plum TV's Nick Leighton gave himself a tour of Bernie Madoff's house in Montauk this week, which can now be yours for $8.75 million. Leighton isn't all that impressed by the decor, not surprisingly. ("I think this was last renovated before I was born," he says). But he does uncover some better news in the master…
Banker Sells on East 80th; Big Buy at One York
• Tom Flexner, a former vice chairman of Bear Stearns who joined Citigroup in April of 2008 to oversee its global real estate investment banking business, has closed on the sale of his four-story townhouse at 136 East 80th Street. The three-bedroom home, which Flexner first listed for $12 million last July with broker
Bernie Madoff's Montauk Home Goes Up For Sale
Bernie Madoff's Montauk home goes up for sale this week. A spectacularly lavish retreat it is not. According to the AP, it's "cottage-size by superrich standards" and full of "faded furnishings," an impression echoed by the Times, which describes it as "less grandiose than one might expect given the scope of Mr.…
