Two realtors "digging through the trash" instead of just bagging it up and removing all of it?
Thank goodness they're on commission and not on the clock.
Their future looks bright, however. There will always be a place for real estate professionals with their approach to logistics and practical matters in the Trump organization.
Now, what about the demolition of the house that previously stood on the property? Who wouldn't want to swing a maul on that job? You start opening up the interior walls of a mobster's house, who knows what you might find? Could be a corpse, could be cash, could be packets of white powder from the trim panels of the 4 door Lincoln that Gene Hackman's been looking for since 1971.
It’s a shame Yogi Berra couldn’t be there to bring them all down to earth by ordering a pizza and, when asked if he wanted it cut in six slices or eight, replied “six, I don’t think I could eat eight”. That one player shifts a franchise in the NBA and the last minute of a game can take 15minutes is why baseball remains the greatest American sport. Sorry Tom Brady. Go Yankees...
2
The Maidstone crowd cringes when reading this article. Times (and the NY Times) have certainly changed since the late 1960's in East Hampton.
2
R.I.P. dear Tom Wolfe and his American History degree from University of Virginia.
The ideas shimmering in this story create the superstructure what might be an irresistible study of contemporary America.
THE RIGHT STUFF, anyone?
From SoHo, Sag Harbor, Chicago, St. Helena and San Miguel de Allende, I grieve.
4
It’s interesting to me how many of the comments refer to the high salaries of NBA players yet, I didn’t see one that referred to the current owners occupation. Lawyers can earn enough to buy the land and build the house and no questions are asked. A basketball player rents it for what I assume is fair market value and everyone has a backhanded comment about what basketball players earn. This is the American Dream, people. Work hard, make it big. Ask the realtors what their cut was.
15
Nice house. Ground zero for where Kevin Durant (a top 5 player) took the easy route under NBA salary rules and went to a team that had won a championship and also won 73 regular season games (a record) the next year. Could have gone to his hometown (DC) with a young team with upside and been heroic and still made hundreds of millions. Weak. Great player but could have been a great story too.
2
A BLOCK from the ocean? Who do you think you're fooling with here, kids?? Step onto the beach or step on out, Hamptons!
2
It’s a soft news article, interesting to many and timely. I found it fun to read. I’ve summered in the Hamptons a long time ago. I don’t understand the defensiveness of middle income people, of whom I am one, about this event and it’s price tag.
People who have a lot of money sometimes spend a chunk of it. Seems reasonable.
9
I find it amusing that in the comments and in the article it is assumed that the house has become more marketable because Kevin Durant rented it for 10 days in 2016 while making his free agency decision.
That expands the market for it in what way? To include the couple of mega-rich basketball fans who assiduously follow the history of NBA free-agency, and who also happen to be in the looking for an expansive vacation home in the Hamptons?
The market would have probably expanded a whole lot more had it been, for example, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle who rented it...
2
I hope that these athletes, like so many others, use the millions they make for good causes.
There are a lot of charities that work with kids.
I can't recall, offhand, who has helped kids but I remember reading about it.
And not only the money but the appearance of these athletes are a great uplift to kids.
The lawyer who owns the house paid much more than $100,000.00. What does he do with kids' charities? Asking for a friend, but not trying to spend another person's money.
6
Give me a break, NYT. My husband and I have owned a summer house in the Hamptons since 1987 - 31 years. It was actually cheaper than seelp away camp for our kids!! We struggled to pay the mortgatge and to maintain it, as we still do, maintain it that is. 99% of the "Hamptons" is owned by people exactly like us and even less "fortunate" as it is their primary residence. Give me a break, NYT, and cool it with all the hype. We are not all rich and entitled and we are not all Wall Street, Media, Hollywood, Sports moguls. The overwhelming number of us just work hard, pay our taxes, go to work and try our best to take good care of our offspring.
Please, please write a piece about us. One out of ten, maybe. O.K. one out of one hundred. You do know that this kind of coverage costs you tons in credibility, loss of credibility that oozes into your serious political coverage.
We may not be as rich as the Hamptonites you exclusively cover, but we are for the most part highly educated, hard working and highly engaged.
16
It being the Hamptons, I'm surprised that when five black men showed up at the house, nobody called the cops.
That we're aware of, anyway.
28
I doubt that would happen in the hamptons. Most people in the Hamptons are liberal New Yorkers. Furthermore, there are lots of celebrities in the Hamptons. The Hamptons feel, to me, like an extension of SoHo/West Village more than they feel like, I dunno, New Canaan Connecticut. In the Hamptons, money matters more than race. If someone saw five black men dressed all in Gucci and driving a Bentley, they'd probably invite them over drinks.
5
And legalized betting on professional sports is somehow supposedly going to make this better? Such wisdom belied by black robes.
1
All these words dedicated to a super wealthy man who bounces a ball to make more money.
1
And? What’s wrong with that? How many millions of people tune in to watch this super wealthy man bounce a ball. Because of that he is super wealthy. Basic economics. I’m just glad his bouncing ball landed in Oakland.
3
Great article on "head hunting" in a new era of conspicuous consumption.
3
What a crass and vulgar piece of "reportage." A "romance bridge?" wink-wink-nudge-nudge romanticized by the broker?
Ick.
3
I want to see a picture of the "nearly windowless" Mafioso's house mentioned in the article. Why is that guy's identity masked in the article, by the way? I love the mistress's cottage.
3
$10,000 per day? Excess begets excess begets really stupid stuff.
Not sure why this is news. It sounds like nothing much of significance happened in this house.
5
Durant's decision only changed the balance of the NBA. That's all.
2
This is how commerce and money spoil everything.
Plus, 10-day rentals are so declasse.
Also, real estate brokers going through the trash?
And, the seller using this episode as a "lure".
It is the love of money that is the root...
1
It's a beautiful house, but no basketball court? come on
2
This article lacks any proper credit to the designers behind the property - Dennis Wedlick of BarlisWedlick Architects, landscape architecture by Craig James Socia, & interior design by (former resident of the home) Scott Sanders.
4
Somehow this doesn't bother me...and I believe Durant made the right choice in going to the Warriors....the rest of the team is as cool and intelligent as he is.
10
I'm confused -- don't a lot of major celebrities and sports figures own or rent posh homes in the Hamptons during the summer?
5
Nice house but why the article about Durant? I like hoop as much as the next person but I don't really care about his free agency discussion locations. Might as well be a Hampton Inn to me instead of a house in the Hamptons.
2
I can't decide whether this interesting story was actually worth reading. I feel like I'm in my dentist's waiting room with only People Magazine to thumb through.
14
If you describe it as "this interesting story," how then was it not worth reading?
1
It’s only because you aren’t a warriors fan.
1
Great story, & the history of the house too!
2
I really enjoyed reading about how very rich people including the mafia spend their time & money. The house is to die for, the photos are great. I want so very much to walk on that bridge & swim in that pool!
But more importantly it led me to the earlier article on Steve Kerr & his family. Of course I must have read about Malcom Kerr's death at the time but actually reading about the family & what Malcom stood for , what was happening at the time, all the deaths, & really the beginning of the Muslim terrorist
groups. It was good to be reminded of some good brave people.
3
I’m interested in the house. Would they consider a 500 year payment plan? :D
3
The article refers over and over to the crazy magnitude of what happened in that home, but never even links to a past article describing it. Why exactly was Kevin Durant changing teams an event of unimaginable magnitude?
Cool house though.
2
...and the wine was delicious.
2
As a resident of Suffolk County, all I think of is deer ticks and lyme disease when I see vegetation on the East End of Long Island.
1
I haven't attended a baseball, football, or basketball game in many years. Late at night I will sometimes watch a few minutes of a game on cable to help me get to sleep, always with the sound muted because I can't stand the idiotic chatter of the announcers.
I grew up as an avid sports fan, but the times are different now.
The money involved in sports has ruined everything.
That, and the grave problems the country currently faces has turned sports in general into something that is decidedly beside-the-point.
6
Wow! Those two real estate brokers are my new heroes. Imagine! Facilitating a 10-day house rental! The skill level just boggles the mind. I mean, really, this should have been a front page story.
11
After this article, it will be much easier to sell this house.
5
I am a teacher. When I became a free agent I was able to rent a suit for my interview. Of course I couldn't write it off as a business expense and it wiped out the last of my savings but it was all worth it in the end when I signed a lucrative contract that allowed me to work towards retirement at 75.
48
C. Taylor,
Unfortunately, this country puts more emphases on sports than it does on education. If the time ever comes that the politicians consider education as important as sports we will then begin to advance our civilization.
With our present government and DeVoss as Secretary of Education, the advance is far into the future.
9
Gee, where the layout plan? Is a historic marker coming? Tours? Photo-ops with cutouts? Easy to make that much back to help the economy, probably in a month or so!
3
I imagine the $100K rental + real estate broker fee was tax-deductible.
24
Hi, I am just your average top 5% citizen and marvel at the lives of the .5% needing to rent a house for $100k to have a couple of meetings. I guess the local hotel conference center wouldn't do.
57
no hotels out there. riverhead is the closest, and riverhead is poor.
east hampton has a private airport with a place for helicopters to land. easy access from NYC.
this house would rent for 100k for the month. that's fairly standard for such a place in such a location. i don't believe10 days is a standard rental period.
9
no hotels out in the hamptons. the closest hotle is in riverhead, and nobody would have free agencies meetings in riverhead. most summer homes in the hamptons rent for 40k to 200k a month. 40k would get you a 3BR cottage.
east hampton has a tiny private airport. i assume that's part of the location choice. someone like tom brady could fly in without any notice. furthermore, in the hamptons, there are so many celebrities that nobody would pay much attention to durant. out there, durant could be made invisible by will smith and his entourage.
the hamptons are overwhelmingly white, but both wealth and celebrity are very respected out there, and most of the summer residents are from manhattan, which means they are liberal. therefore, the Hamptons are a place where an affluent black person/family could move without feeling all that alienated, as they would in Darien or Bronxville. i could see a town like Armonk trying to discourage a rich black home buyer, but Southampton would roll out the red carpet for an NBA superstar.
4
" But he has come to understand the magnitude of what happened on his property."
Magnitude? ...To who? It didn't cause a ripple in my life. Excessive!
2
"...the significance of what happened on this property"
Really? Nothing against anyone involved, but this is Robin Leach-level entertainment. Were there flat-screen TV's?
94
Exactly; must've been a slow news day.
Tune in tomorrow for "An Interview with the Limo Driver."
2
Gorgeous house. Mr. Wilson could have a career in decorating, if he so wished. Excellent design choices, in almost very room.
My dream is to have the exact same house, but ABOVE the highway for 1/3 the price ;)
17
I'm fairly confident you're not seeing the owner's furnishings. Nearly all such sales are conducted after a "staging" company furnishes the house with zero clutter, no personal belongings, and furniture pieces chosen to accentuate the home's size and features, and to appeal to the broadest spectrum of potential buyers.
8
google the sotheyby's listing. no staging company could do all that. also, the staging company didn't choose those front doors or the flora around the pool. it even looks like the owner may have painted the pool to give the reflection in it more verdi gris.
I'm missing the joke(?) about being ABOVE the highway. Can somebody explain? Is that an east egg thing?