Jeff Bezos moved into his new Manhattan home last month after closing on three adjacent apartments overlooking Madison Square Park. The purchase was made through separate deals totaling $80 million: $51.5 million for the penthouse and $28.5 million for the smaller apartments. Sales activity throughout the city was unusually brisk in June, despite a continuing luxury-market slowdown. Deep-pocketed buyers hurried to close on sales contracts to avoid paying New York’s higher “mansion tax,” which took effect July 1. (Under the change, the tax on Mr. Bezos’s purchases would have been $3.12 million instead of $800,000.)

Source: International New York Times July 05, 2019 12:56 UTC