Water coming out of David Copperfield's Manhattan penthouse is no magic trick. Emily Smith of NYPost Page Six reported that Copperfield's swimming pool burst, flooding his Manhattan apartment, as well as other units below.
Ted Blumberg, the world-renowned illusionist's lawyer, said that the reason for this mishap was a lap-pool malfunction originating at the magician's floor, notes NYPost Page Six. "The pump malfunctioned, and the entire pool drained through David's apartment and apartments below, right to the basement. Walls and floors were completely soaked, " Blumberg stated.
From the penthouse lap pool, the water seeped and reached around 30 apartments below, causing the elevator to shut down. It was a good thing that the "Magician of the Century" was not at the midtown tower when the March 8 flooding incident happened, says NYPost Page Six. The magician was performing in Las Vegas for his MGM Grand show during that time, adds NYPost Page Six.
However, the lawyer further said that the "King of Magic" was agitated when he learned about the news. The lawyer related to the New York Post Page Six said that the magician's various valuables such as antiques and vintage arcade pieces were inside the magician's four-story penthouse when the flooding occurred.
Blumberg said, "David was terrified, because he has these rare, vintage Coney Island machines, which are priceless, irreplaceable antiques, including a fortune teller, strength testers, an electric shock machine and shooting galleries. But for some unknown reason - or stroke of luck - these machines were spared by the water. There's a magic trick called 'The Bullet Catch,' where the illusionist catches the bullet in his teeth, and David thinks he really dodged a bullet here."
In 2011, Kellie Delaney of KDHamptons reported that Copperfield hosted an intimate party at his midtown Manhattan home. The magician toured Owen Wilson, China Chow and Peter Brant and other celebrities to see his vintage valuables. An image of his lap pool can also be seen in Delaney's report. Blumberg related to New York Page Six that although Copperfield's wallpapers and carpets were damaged, most of his art collection was saved.
Fortunately, another rare set of collection was not housed in his Manhattan pad. A December 2013 report from Celebrity Networth stated that Copperfield's "collection contains more than 150,000 items and books with especially valuable items from Harry Houdini, Georges Melies, and the father of modern magic, Robert Houdin." The said collection is kept "in a 40,000 square foot warehouse located several miles off the Las Vegas Strip."
Curbed showed an upclose image of the penthouse in its report and mentioned that Copperfield bought this pad in 1997. Celebrity Networth commented that even though the magician bought this for $7.4M in 1997, it is already priced more than $60M as of December 2013.
