Gift Ideas from the Rudy Giuliani Collection!

It was not easy, after a federal jury determined that Rudy Giuliani owed nearly a hundred and fifty million dollars to two Georgia poll workers he had defamed, for America’s Mayor’s victims to recoup. At first, orders for Giuliani to hand over assets were ignored. The plaintiffs’ attorney was given access to his apartment, only to report that it had been cleared of valuables. There was talk of a storage unit in Ronkonkoma which Giuliani didn’t control. His lawyers dropped him. At one point, he claimed that he couldn’t afford food. Luckily for anyone still Christmas shopping, however, the court has continued pressing Giuliani for his assets, which are expected to be sold at auction to pay for a portion of the damages owed to the plaintiffs, whom Giuliani libelled with false claims of election malfeasance. Thus, luxury items that belonged to the former mayor can soon be under your Christmas tree.

Perhaps someone in your life, taking cues from “Santa Baby,” has been dropping hints about a convertible. How about Giuliani’s navy 1980 Mercedes-Benz 500 SL, formerly owned by Lauren Bacall? “This is a good car for a second home—summer fancy,” Lindsay Schey, who runs the Gift Insider, a gift-advice service, said the other day. “You’re not gifting this to your son who just got his license.”

Nor is your teen-ager likely pining for the framed Joe DiMaggio replica jersey that hung above Giuliani’s library fireplace, or for an autographed photograph of Reggie Jackson. (Several of the latter can be found on eBay for less than a hundred dollars.) But, for Yankees fans of a certain age, consider making these part of a memorabilia array, augmented by baseball cards or other related collectibles. “That way, you’re not just regifting something from someone’s old home,” Schey said. If you have your eye on authentic Yankees World Series rings, however, look elsewhere: Giuliani has thus far skirted forfeiting three such rings, for championships the team won while he was mayor, by claiming that he already gifted them to his son. (A trial on these and other assets is set for January 16th. Giuliani’s request that it be moved so he can attend Donald Trump’s Inauguration was denied.)

A court order also mandates turning over “various items of furniture.” Real-estate photos of Giuliani’s New York residence, possibly staged virtually, show currant-colored leather lounge seats, an upholstered swivel chair with matching ottoman, and stained-glass lampshades. When, in recent years, Giuliani filmed videos for his Web show from his library, he sat in a high-backed chair of shiny brown leather. “Very traditional vibes,” Schey said. “You want someone who will appreciate that.”

Additionally subject to seizure: an unspecified television set, “costume jewelry.” The bulk of Giuliani’s offerings is an inventory of twenty-six watches. (During a hearing related to his disbarment in Washington, D.C., he displayed a wrist bearing two of them.) But temper expectations. A video of eighteen of the timepieces, posted from a FedEx facility by an indignant Giuliani representative (“an absolute bastardization of our justice system!”), suggested a collection that Benjamin Clymer, the founder of the luxury-watch site Hodinkee, deemed mediocre. “They’re mostly kind of inconsequential,” Clymer said. “It’s very clear he’s more of an accumulator, not a connoisseur.”

Schey recommended embellishing any Giuliani watch with a cheeky engraving referencing its provenance. “It adds an element of ‘You’ve never received anything like this before,’ ” she said. Clymer’s lone endorsement was for a Rolex Datejust with a white Roman-numeral dial, which typically sells for around five thousand dollars and is likely to retain its value. Another option, for the right giftee: a Franck Muller Cintrée Curvex that retails in the low five figures. “If I had a lot of money and I wanted to, like, fuck with somebody, that would be the watch that I would get,” Clymer said. The watchmaker’s reputation sounded familiar. “To a watch guy, it’s, like, ‘Wow, Franck Muller was everything twenty-five years ago,’ ” Clymer said. “Now the brand is still around, but a shell of what it used to be.”

If you’re feeling lavishly generous, request a viewing of Giuliani’s ten-room penthouse, at Sixty-sixth and Madison, which is being handed over to the poll workers, too. (There’s no mortgage on it.) It’s a tenth-floor corner unit with a glassed-in conservatory and a primary suite made by combining two bedrooms and two baths, and it’s just a short walk from Café Boulud and the Central Park Zoo. Last year, Giuliani listed the apartment, unsuccessfully, for $6.5 million; before the verdict, StreetEasy had it posted for closer to $5 million. (The listed broker also sold Bernie Madoff’s penthouse.) It’s a co-op, which could create two problems, should the poll workers want to flip it: buyers are subject to board approval and to monthly maintenance fees, which in this case are nearly eleven thousand dollars. Also, in 2021, the place was raided by the F.B.I. Check for bugs.

That’s likely too steep for most peoples’ Santa budgets, even in this town. Who might give such a present, and to whom? “I don’t know many people who gift apartments,” Schey said. “I wish I did.” ♦