What’s a little fraud with such luxury?
The husband and wife who bought Bernard Madoff’s stunning Upper East Side penthouse apartment say one look at the panoramic rooftop view made it easy to exorcise the $65 billion scam artist’s ghost from the property.
“He was worried about the karma, but I just loved the terrace,” Patsy Kahn said of her husband, Al, a toy mogul with whom she purchased the 4,000-square-foot duplex in February.
Sources said the Kahns plunked down around $8 million for the apartment at 133 E. 64th St. — well under the $8.9 million asking price, which had already been slashed from the original $9.9 million listing. The money, minus the broker’s commission, will go to reimburse Madoff’s victims.
The building’s co-op board has signed off on the sale, and the Kahns are already consulting with an architect to renovate the three-bedroom co-op.
Patsy Kahn said she and her husband had looked at about 10 penthouses before she fell in love with the Madoff apartment. But she still had to convince her hubby — who made a fortune on Cabbage Patch Dolls and Pokémon — to overlook its notorious past. In the end, the terrace won him over too.
“There just weren’t a lot of penthouses on the market with a lot of outdoor space,” she told The Post.
Beyond that, the Kahns are still not entirely sure of what they’ve got. When they first toured the apartment, there were four doors that were locked. So far, they have only found keys to one — which revealed a small closet. They suspect the others are fire exits.
“I kind of imagined they’d lead to another secret apartment,” Kahn joked.
Neighbors are sure to be relieved that the taint of Madoff might finally be lifted. Even before he was revealed as the biggest fraudster in history, Madoff was known as an odd duck at the building.
One resident, who spoke under condition of anonymity, said that during their interview with the co-op board, of which Madoff was president, the scam artist spun a bizarre tall tale for no apparent reason.
“We summer in an obscure place. He told us he grew up near there and summered there, too,” said the resident, who believes it was an early sign of Madoff’s pathological tendencies that came to light when his scam unraveled in 2008.
The Kahns currently live in a 4,350-square-foot pad at the Time Warner Center, for which they are asking $33 million. Listing brokers Brenda Powers and Elizabeth Sample, of Brown Harris Stevens, declined to comment.
The Kahns are anxious to move their collection of folk art, modern art and quirky antiques into their new home.
“It sets the tone for the apartment,” Kahn said. “We like to have fun, fun, fun.”