N.Y. Post Suitor Kalikow’s Intentions Are in Dispute

Real estate magnate Peter S. Kalikow, called one of the nation’s richest men and one of the city’s worst landlords, waltzed into the world of publishing with his tentative agreement Sunday to buy the financially troubled New York Post.

Kalikow’s lack of experience in publishing and his reputation as one of the city’s most vigorous developers fueled suspicions that he was more interested in the Post’s waterfront site than in running the city’s oldest continuously published daily.

But a spokesman firmly denied that Kalikow, 44, was shelling out $37 million solely for the riverfront property and says the Post will continue to roll off the presses as it has since Alexander Hamilton founded the newspaper in 1801.

Last year, Forbes magazine cited the developer as one of the 400 richest Americans.

Kalikow, who heads H. J. Kalikow & Co., the real estate firm founded by his father, faces his biggest business challenge yet with his purchase of the Post.