A New York developer is willing to give up half of his $2 billion fortune just to end his messy divorce case — and he can’t stop laughing about it.
Developer Harry Macklowe, 79, was in a joking mood outside a Manhattan civil courtroom Tuesday as he talked about handing his wife, Linda Macklowe, a cool $1 billion so she will sign legal papers freeing him to be with his younger French gal pal.
“As soon as this divorce is over, I’m getting remarried,” he declared after a hearing into his breakup with his spouse of 58 years, who has thus far not agreed to his offer of a 50-50 financial split.
The giddy real estate mogul then launched into an impromptu comedy set for reporters, telling a string of “Take my wife — please”-style jokes straight from a Henny Youngman routine.
The act included several long quips such as this one:
A husband has been giving his wife incredible pleasure, beyond her wildest fantasies, for 30 years of marriage. But they always have sex with the lights off. One night she gets curious, leans over and flips the light switch on. She is shocked to see that her husband is using a vibrator on her. “I knew it, you jerk, explain the vibrator!” she says. “Explain the kids!” he says.
Macklowe — who’s developed such iconic properties as the 1,396-foot-high 432 Park Ave., the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere — is engaged to be married to 62-year-old mistress Patricia Landeau, a museum president.
As he cracked his wife jokes Tuesday, Macklowe seemed unconcerned about the prospect of losing half of his fortune.
He even suggested reporters check out the stand-up routines he’s posted on Old Jews Telling Jokes.
He griped that his wife — who is an art-loving trustee of the Guggenheim Foundation — never laughed at his wisecracks.
He also complained about how she refused his offer to give her half his money — and instead served him with divorce papers as he arrived with his new gal pal in London last year.
Linda, 79, filed for the divorce in July after learning that her husband had put his French mistress up in one of his apartments at 737 Park Ave., less than a mile away from their home at The Plaza hotel.
Linda and her attorneys declined to comment.
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Laura Drager ordered the two sides to “move this forward expeditiously.” Drager asked Linda for a list of information she wants to determine the value of her husband’s real estate empire.