Illusionist David Copperfield’s Manhattan rooftop swimming pool did a disappearing act — but it wasn’t a trick. The pool atop Copperfield’s East 57th Street penthouse spontaneously burst and flooded his apartment, seeping into others as far as 30 stories below.
Copperfield’s lawyer, Ted Blumberg, confirmed that a pump for the 57th-floor lap pool malfunctioned, sending water gushing through Copperfield’s four-story, greenhouse-like penthouse at the Galleria that is packed with valuable art and antiques, including vintage arcade pieces from Coney Island.
The water leaked to apartments down to the 20th floor, knocking out the tony tower’s elevators for more than a day following the March 8 flood. Copperfield was in Las Vegas at the time, where he performs a nightly MGM Grand show.
Blumberg said, “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.
“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.”
Blumberg added that workers have removed the wallpaper and carpets from Copperfield’s home, which were “completely destroyed,” but much of his art was salvageable.
Asked if he expects lawsuits from neighbors, or the building, Blumberg said, “The insurance company has been notified. This is New York City, so nothing would surprise us. The pool will be refilled, but first we have to make sure that there are fail-safe measures put into place to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
Copperfield bought the 8,000-square-foot pad at 117 E. 57th St. in 1997 for $7.4 million.