Kate Spade[1]’s suicide in June left a $3 million real-estate deal in limbo.

The designer’s estranged husband Andy Spade[2] was allegedly two days from closing on Laura Steinberg’s apartment at 47 E. 67th St. when Kate died[3] and Andy decided he didn’t need another pad.

“He had already passed the board,” the Italian-born ex-wife of the late Saul Steinberg told me. “I had already bought a house in Millbrook, NY.” When Spade backed out, she says, “he really screwed me.”

Months earlier, Spade had moved out of the couple’s art-filled Park Avenue apartment to a place 14 blocks north, but with her passing he could move back in.

“Obviously in the wake of this tragedy, and during this time of grieving, Andy’s plans have changed,” a spokeswoman for Spade told me. “Andy was not in a position to be purchasing another home.” Spade’s rep says he complied with all of his obligations on the deal.

Steinberg’s apartment is back on the market asking $3.4 million.

References

  1. ^ Kate Spade (pagesix.com)
  2. ^ Andy Spade (pagesix.com)
  3. ^ Kate died (pagesix.com)

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