Tony Malkin’s New Year’s Eve fireworks sparked New Zealand fire
The fireworks weren’t a blast for neighbors.
A New York City billionaire staged a private New Year’s Eve display that set a hillside ablaze near his New Zealand estate — and nearby residents are reportedly smoking mad.
Empire State Building magnate Tony Malkin set off the extravagant display on his complex in Central Otago, near Queensland, as the clock struck midnight on Jan. 1 — torching more than an acre of grass and sparking a frenzy, the Guardian reported.
“It’s just a joke that an out-of-towner can come in and set off a 14-minute commercial firework display and then burn the hill down,” neighbor Johnny Quinn fumed.
“It basically upset the entire neighborhood. Everyone within the area had to make plans. People changed their holiday plans,” he said.
Malkin, CEO of Empire State Realty Trust, owner of the iconic Manhattan building, set off the fireworks despite a petition from neighbors opposing it, Quinn said.
The show went up in flames — and the unilateral move isn’t “the Kiwi way,” said Quinn.
The blaze tore through 1.2 acres of property before firefighters stopped it within feet of buildings owned by Malkin, the outlet reported.
Locals, many of whom opposed the fireworks because they traumatize wildlife and livestock, are demanding a ban on private pyrotechnical displays.
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Malkin has yet to apologize to neighbors for the fire, Quinn said.
The billionaire declined to comment through a spokesperson, except to say he and his family are grateful for the “the expert work” of cops and firefighters who responded to the blaze, according to the outlet.
He didn’t return The Post’s request for comment Thursday.
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