Bloomberg Isn't Buying, but Israel Property Uses Him in Its Sales Promotion Effort

By JILL GARDINER, Staff Reporter of the Sun
September 12, 2006

A new luxury apartment complex rising in Israel is using Mayor Bloomberg's name to promote its multimillion-shekel apartments.

While Mr. Bloomberg says he has never even stepped foot in the "Jerusalem of Gold" complex on Rabbi Akiva Street in Jerusalem, its Web site links to an article in a local newspaper claiming that the mayor was about to seal the deal on a penthouse apartment.

The front-page article features a photo of the mayor smiling, his arms outstretched and thumbs thrust in the air. It said Mr. Bloomberg was "in negotiations" to buy the apartment and that his representatives had been to Israel to look at the project and scope out the security situation.

"The mayor is not buying a home in Jerusalem" and "is not buying real estate in Israel," a spokesman for the mayor, Stuart Loeser, said when asked about the article.

While on a trip to Israel for a wedding earlier this year, Mr. Loeser spotted the article on a cabdriver's dashboard. He said he hailed the cab and paid the driver a "couple of shekels" for the paper.

When asked how he felt about the Jerusalem of Gold Web site linking to the article, Mr. Loeser joked that Mr. Bloomberg, a billionaire, was thinking about calling the developers and "asking for a cut of the profits."

"New York is associated with low crime, security, high quality of life, and excellent municipal services. So if you're trying to sell a product along those lines, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that somebody is appropriating the mayor's name and image," Mr. Loeser joked.

A professor of public affairs at Baruch College, Douglas Muzzio, said the Bloomberg name has cachet due to the mayor's public service and the international press and broadcast company he founded.

"Bloomberg's name is a known name," Mr. Muzzio said. "If there are stockbrokers in Jerusalem, they've all got a terminal with his name on it."

"It would almost have to help," he added. "If you're going to pick an American name, Bloomberg is right up there."

The mayor accepts only $1 a year from the city in salary. He has been a big backer of Israel and has donated millions of dollars to Jewish causes. His real estate holdings include homes in Bermuda, London, Vail, Colo., and Westchester County.

According to an article in the Jerusalem Post, the full-service towers will include a swimming pool, spa, sauna, and massage room. Attendants will be on call to order meals, do laundry, and organize parties. The project managers of Jerusalem of Gold were quoted in the local Jerusalem story —which ran earlier this year in a publication that was filled largely with advertisements — as saying that they were in "negotiations with an American high-ranking political figure," but would not disclose any names.

The marketing and sales manager for Jerusalem of Gold, Benny Davidov, declined to comment on the idea of a Bloomberg purchase, saying that all transactions are private.

He did say that the complex would have one celebrity from Miami, two from Los Angeles, and "one of the richest from the Jewish community in New York." When asked whether there was any effort to create a rumor about Mr. Bloomberg's interest, he said: "Not at all."

A managing partner at the Manhattan firm Massey Knakal Realty Services, Shimon Shkury, who is Israeli, said he didn't know anything about Mr. Bloomberg's involvement in the project. But, he said, Mr. Bloomberg is "highly appreciated in Israel" and any project would benefit from an association with him.