{"id":91656,"date":"2020-10-17T20:21:48","date_gmt":"2020-10-17T17:21:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/chelsea-hotel-tenants-feud-over-mold-extortion\/"},"modified":"2020-10-17T20:21:48","modified_gmt":"2020-10-17T17:21:48","slug":"chelsea-hotel-tenants-feud-over-mold-extortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/chelsea-hotel-tenants-feud-over-mold-extortion\/","title":{"rendered":"#Chelsea Hotel tenants feud over mold, extortion"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Chelsea Hotel tenants feud over mold, extortion<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n For 145 years, the Chelsea Hotel has been a scene of artistic greatness \u2014 Arthur C. Clarke wrote \u201c2001: A Space Odyssey\u201d there \u2014 and tragedy, including the deaths of Nancy Spungen and \u201cThe Lost Weekend\u201d writer Charles R. Jackson.<\/p>\n

But never has the Chelsea seen a war like what\u2019s now taking place.<\/p>\n

On one side, residents of five rent-regulated apartments have filed lawsuits and complaints claiming, among other things, \u201criver flowing on 10th fl east,\u201d \u201cstench of mold\u201d and \u201cvermin infestation.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other, co-owner Ira Drukier \u2014 along with some tenants \u2014 argues that these people are only looking for big buyouts: a total of $42 million, he claims.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s gotten so nasty that one court document alleged that Drukier \u201cspewed spittle\u201d into a tenant\u2019s face. \u201cI\u2019m a 75-year-old guy. I don\u2019t go around attacking people,\u201d Drukier told The Post.<\/p>\n

Last month, married residents Philip Taaffe and Gretchen Carlson filed suit over claims including water damage, a wrecked ceiling and lack of heat. \u201cI watched my home crumble,\u201d Carlson, who has lived there since 1995, told The Post.<\/p>\n

\"Ira
Co-owner Ira Drukier (inset) wants to retain \u201cartistic tenants,\u201d but is legally allowed to renovate only communal spaces like this hallway, not inhabited apartments.<\/span>Stefano Giovannini<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But Drukier\u2019s lawyer, Jennifer Recine, said the two \u201chave lived full time in Cornwall, Conn., since 2014 and do not want their apartment fixed; they [want] millions of dollars to \u2018give back\u2019 a rent-stabilized apartment they don\u2019t live in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to answer about moving back,\u201d Carlson said. \u201cYou cannot sheetrock over broken pipes [when] there is mold. These are not minor house repairs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Residents of four additional units have lodged similar litigation. \u2018These tenants have been fabricating and embellishing issues in an attempt to extort money,\u201d said co-owner Richard Born. \u201cComments made by them are suspect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, other renters are frustrated by complainers holding up the work. The beefs have prevented Drukier from getting a Certificate of No Harassment to continue renovations in occupied apartments. (He said that many tenants receive a 35 percent rent abatement because of construction.)<\/p>\n

Zoe Papp<\/a>as, head of the tenants association, told The Post that to avoid litigious neighbors, she doesn\u2019t use the elevator.<\/p>\n

\"Chelsea
Chelsea Hotel, W 23rd street \u2013 Manhattan.<\/span>Stefano Giovannini<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThey trash me,\u201d she said, adding that some prefer the hotel\u2019s starving-artist past, when Madonna and Patti Smith lived in squalor. \u201cI heard of one not wanting a private bathroom!\u201d Indeed, some spaces share communal restrooms.<\/p>\n

Carlson\u2019s pad has two toilets, but she said both are out of service: \u201cDid they expect me to use a litter box?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA few tenants won\u2019t let the hotel be finished,\u201d nightclub promoter Susanne Bartsch, who has lived at the Chelsea for 39 years, told The Post. \u201cI am sick of the dust. Why not let owners finish their f\u2013king hotel?\u201d<\/p>\n

Construction has been ongoing since 2011, when the building was sold to the first of three recent owners; Drukier and his partners bought it in 2016 for about $250 million.<\/p>\n

Drukier insists he wants to do well by tenants living under decrepit conditions in rooms that have not been renovated for decades. \u201c[One said] that construction bothered him. I offered to build him an apartment twice the size of his current one, on another floor, for the rent that he is paying. He refused .\u2009.\u2009. There are a lot of strange people here.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n \"chelsea-hotel-1\"<\/div>\n

\n
\n Zoe Pappas in her apartment at the Chelsea Hotel. <\/p>\n

Stefano Giovannini<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n
\n \"chelsea-hotel-2\"<\/div>\n

\n
\n Ellen Garretson, a neighbor of Zoe. <\/p>\n

Stefano Giovannini<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n Up Next
\n