When Robert Kraft is not busy winning Super Bowl trophies with the New England Patriots, he spends time in his $43 million mansion in The Hamptons area of New York.
All is not well for Kraft and his neighbors, apparently. The team owner is at odds with residents and local officials about plans for his mansion.
The New York Post reported Saturday that Kraft, 81, has petitioned Southampton officials to allow him to build a $1.1 million elevator in his home. However, a local zoning ordinance prohibits such additions.
Kraft claims he is “mobility impaired” and needs the elevator to get around. The Patriots team physician, Dr. Mark D. Price, stated in an affidavit that Kraft’s “progressive knee pain” is a medical disability and the elevator should be approved under Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines.
Kraft has threatened to sue if he doesn’t gain approval.
Yet angry villagers — a phrase usually reserved for horror films — contend that Kraft is just fine, and is using the medical excuse to skirt zoning laws. Residents point out that Kraft regularly golfs, plays tennis and generally leads an active lifestyle.
“If you Google ‘Robert Kraft tennis’ and you see recent photos of him playing tennis and you get this feeling they are just willing to do anything to win,” one resident said (via the Post).
There is a compromise, in which Kraft builds the elevator totally within the house, but that would more than double the cost.
Kraft, worth an estimated $10 billion, could probably find a spare million bucks in his sofa cushions. If you subtract what he’s paying his undoubtedly top-notch legal team, the cost difference would be even less than that. Could it be that the owner who has won six Super Bowl championships is just pushing this issue for the thrill of winning?
