TO RUSSIA WITH LUGGAGE
Reds exit L.I. spy manor
Officials yesterday vacated the Elmcroft Estate, an Upper Brookville, Long Island, home the Soviet Union bought in 1952, after President Obama announced plans to close the building in retaliation for alleged Russian hacking of Democrat Party e-mails.
A lavish Long Island manor that the Russians used as a spy base to gather intel on US weapons-making was shuttered by the State Department on Friday.
The feds locked up the Upper Brookville compound the day after President Obama ordered it closed in retaliation against Russia for its interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
A former high-ranking official told The Post that the Soviet Union bought the estate in 1952 under the pretense that it would be a “weekend retreat” for its diplomats.
But the real reason it chose the property was for its location in an area that has long been home to companies with US defense contracts, according to the former official.
“They want[ed] to infiltrate those defense contractors to find out what America is up to militarily, what kind of weapons are they using, making,” the ex-official said.
“They are still old school in that they infiltrate people who work for companies in order to gather information that will help Russia.”
Several vans with diplomatic plates pulled up Friday morning to the Gold Coast mansion — which boasts a soccer field and indoor pool — to haul away garbage bags full of belongings and at least one large painting.
State Department agents finally locked the gate in front of the property at around 12:30 p.m.
The $9 million-plus compound, known as the Elmcroft Estate, was built around 1917 and was once occupied by former New York Gov. Nathan Miller.
In 1964, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first person in space, planted a birch tree there.
Upper Brookville residents said it was no secret the estate was owned by the Russians.
Penny Hallman, who owns a horse farm next to the property, said one diplomat brought her a wrapped bottle of Stoli vodka and a box of chocolates Friday.
“The phone rang, and he was at the door with these two girls, and we shook hands and gave a little hug, and we wished each other a Merry Christmas,” she said.
“They’ve always been good people, good neighbors. They keep to themselves.”
Another neighbor, Nick DeMartino, 23, said the foreigners would go skeet-shooting every Sunday.
“We would see them in town driving around with diplomatic plates,” DeMartino said.
Moscow also bought a much larger property called Killenworth in Glen Cove, LI, in 1949. Glen Cove Mayor Reginald Spinello said it wasn’t being closed.
Meanwhile, a Russian-owned compound in Centreville, Md., was also shuttered by the feds Friday — putting an end to the annual vodka-fueled parties thrown by the diplomats who lived there.
“They were wonderful hosts,” said a former guest, Carolyn Mooreshead. “They were a lot of fun and very cordial. There was a bottle of vodka, a bottle of red wine and a bottle of white wine at every table.”
On Friday, Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin blasted the closures as insensitive.
“I think it’s quite scandalous that they chose to throw out our kids,” he said. “They know full well that those two facilities they mentioned, they are vacation facilities for our kids and this is Christmas, and this is vacation time for our schools.”