SLIGHTLY stooped, and as old as most grandfathers, there was something of a hero in this multimillionaire.
Given the chance of groveling, Alfred Taubman’s attitude was something I have seen but personally have never been.
It is a syndrome called: “I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees.”
Yesterday, on the first floor of 40 Center St. in Manhattan during his sentencing, the old boy was chastised by Judge George Daniels, who claims Taubman has “never shown remorse.”
And when Judge Daniels pulled a Solomon by offering to cut the baby in half, he asked: “Do you have anything to say?”
In a clarity of voice that belied his age of 78, he suddenly said: “No sir, your honor, thank you.”
He could have kneeled, he could have blamed others like the rolling tank called DeDe Brooks, who made millions from the old fella, and admitted terrible things in this collusion scam between Sotheby’s and Christie’s.
But nothing. This is no Sammy “Bull” Gravano. Take it like a man, even if a year and a day might prove to be his death sentence in the slam.
“That is very typical of Al,” said Donald Trump. “This is a sad day for a man of distinction. A man who even in crisis shows he has class. I hope people with less class don’t walk.”
I envy the rich, but as Trump, no pauper himself, says, in thoroughbred racing, class tells.
Oh, yes, Taubman, this genius of the Detroit malls which led him to a fortune from being flat broke to presenting the best tables in the world, became a multimillionaire.
He set the best tables but was never really invited to them, this upstart mall-maker.
And how dare he buy Sotheby’s and how dare he be the boss of DeDe Brooks, who gets sentenced next week.
Of course she admits to everything but says the old boy told her what to do. DeDe, if she was arrested, would tell you the bombs are hidden under the staircase and my mother put them there.
But let’s forget our Miss Brooks. I don’t like to see anyone do time.
“Only remember this,” said a close friend, “this won’t stop Al a bit in what he is doing. He will keep on doing it.”
Well, I know what his friend was saying. Taubman has given a cool $105 million away to charities, from St. Mary’s Hospital, to the Episcopal Schools of New York, to the B’nai B’rith to the Red Cross and on it goes.
“And he will keep on doing it no matter what,” said his mate. This guy should be in the Mideast now. He is an equal-opportunity giver.
Normally, you hear me talking about the little guy or gal who gets screwed. Big guys get screwed, too.
Al Taubman is an old man, a sick old man, but in my books, above all, he is a MAN.