Judge orders Rudy Giuliani to give up Upper East Side penthouse
45 East 66th Street. Photo by Epicgenius via Wikimedia Commons
Rudy Giuliani must turn over his valuable possessions, including his Upper East Side penthouse, as part of a $148 million defamation lawsuit the former mayor lost in 2023, a judge ruled this week. In Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, Judge Lewis Liman said the former New York City mayor and lawyer for Donald Trump has seven days to transfer the possessions, which include, in addition to the apartment at 45 East 66th Street, a Mercedes-Benz, several watches, a signed Joe DiMaggio jersey, and more, to the two Georgia election officials he defamed, CNN reported.
Following the 2020 election, Giuliani falsely accused ballot counters Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss of stealing the election from Trump by manipulating the ballots, leading to violent and racist threats made against them. The pair sued Giuliani and won $148 million in a verdict last year.
The women will also be entitled to $2 million in legal fees Giuliani owes the Trump campaign, according to the ruling. The judge ordered Giuliani to transfer the possessions to a receivership controlled by Freeman and Moss by next Tuesday.
Giuliani first listed the three-bedroom penthouse in the landmarked Fred Leighton Building, just off Madison Avenue and a block from Central Park, in July 2023 for $6.5 million. After a stint off the market, the apartment was relisted in May for $5.7 million and then finally for $5.175 million in late September before being delisted again earlier this month, according to CityRealty.
Giuliani bought the pre-war co-op for $4.77 million over 20 years ago with his ex-wife Judith, who told the New York Times in 2023: “He never even saw the apartment until we had already decided to buy it. I found it, I decorated it, I made it his home.”
According to Curbed, the former mayor fought against a proposed penthouse addition to the apartment, which would take away his top-floor status. He lost that battle when the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the design in 2014.
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