Is Dick Grasso a Tax Cheat?

New York City tax authorities are piling on Dick Grasso, the New York Post reports. They are claiming that he is a New York City resident, and that he owes $1.8 million in penalties and an unspecified sum in back taxes.

I can't blame city authorities for seeking their pound of flesh from the much-sued Grasso, but this strikes me as a tenuous claim at best. He did have an apartment in Tribeca, but actually moved out of the city to a succession of increasingly lush North Shore residences many years ago. He also has a summer house in the East End of Long Island.

I've never seen any of those dwellings, but as a longtime New Yorker myself I seriously doubt that Grasso spent more than the requisite 183 days in the city, given the alternatives. I sure wouldn't, if I had a North Shore mansion etc. etc.

© 2006 Gary Weiss. All rights reserved.

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