42. Gary Melius

This old-school power broker continues to amaze friend and foe alike with his survival skills and business acumen. We can joke about it now, but he’s one of the luckiest guys alive, anywhere, since he took a bullet to the head in 2014 as he sat in his car at Oheka Castle, the fabled estate built in 1921 by Otto Kahn that Melius bought for $1.5 million in 1984. The shooter and the motive still remain a mystery, and the $100,000 reward for solving the crime remains unclaimed, but Melius has stayed in the public eye throughout this ordeal and his recovery—not to mention an ongoing federal investigation into his associates’ role in handling receiverships. Certainly his attachment to this lavish castle runs deep. He sold it once for $30 million, but he couldn’t really let it go, eventually buying it back for the same amount. The fabulous French-style chateau still draws a crowd, from power lunches to charity functions to ritzy weddings and powerful poker games, in what is humorously known as The Dungeon. He also still pulls the purse strings for the Independence Party, whose ballot line is coveted by politicians of all stripes hoping for that victory edge on Election Day. Nobody else on Long Island can say they’re the king of their castle like Gary Melius.