Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Alistair Economakis. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Alistair Economakis. Sort by date Show all posts

Monday, December 15, 2008

Report: Alistair Economakis is suing his cousin Evel for libel


As you may recall, a sharply worded letter made the rounds this past summer from one Evel Economakis, a high-school history teacher in Athens, Greece, who is also reportedly the cousin of landlord Alistair Economakis, owner of 47 E. Third St. (In November, Alistair Economakis was successful in buying out the remaining tenants at 47 E. Third St. He is reportedly making the tenement building a home for his family.)

According to an article in The Indypendent, Alistair Economakis is suing his cousin for libel. As The Indypendent reported:

In a letter sent out in September, Evel Economakis wrote that the libel suit is an attempt “to send me to jail and destroy me financially (which is not a hard thing to do, as I make under $12,000 a year).” According to Third Street tenants, Greek law allows plaintiffs to sue for libel even if the accusations are true.

So in that letter, Evel apologized for “the mistake of calling my cousin Alistair a ’spoiled rich brat.’

“Alistair grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth, was surrounded by maids and other servants, had everything handed to him, played on his father’s yacht, and rode his father’s horses on their estate in England. More, on at least two occasions I personally witnessed how rudely he addressed poor elderly people in Greece. But none of this, of course, constitutes evidence that he is a ’spoiled rich brat.’ Sorry, Alistair, I shouldn’t have said that about you.”

“If I had the chance to rewrite the letter, I wouldn’t use characterizations and other adjectives,” he concluded. “But I have always believed -- and will always believe -- that a parasite is a person who takes and never gives back. A parasite buys and sells, producing nothing. Worse still, he does so at the expense of others.”


Meanwhile, the article in The Indypendent contains many juicy details about the battle for 47 E. Third St.

Previous coverage of 47 E. Third St. on EV Grieve.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Dumpster marks the beginning of the end of 47 E. Third St.

As The Villager reported in its current issue, on Aug. 27, tenants moved out of 47 E. Third Street -- home of the infamous, longstanding battle with building owner Alistair Economakis.

According to the paper, Economakis may have also moved out -- at least temporarily. Pr maybe not.

And now a dumpster is in place in front of the building for collecting the remains of the renovation that will turn the tenement into the family's Mansion.




And check back with the paper later this week: There will be more of an interview with Alistair Economakis -- his longest to date with the media.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Alistair Economakis is suing his cousin Evel for libel

And Economakis gets the whole building for his dream mansion

The 47 E. 3rd St. protest in video

At the 47 E. 3rd St. protest

Conspiracies: Where are all the fliers?

Friday, May 18, 2012

Report: the Economakis family is now living in 47 E. Third St.


After a nearly two-and-a-half-year gut renovation, the Economakis family has moved into their newly created mansion at 47 E. Third St., Lincoln Anderson reports at The Villager this week.

Per the article:

In an e-mail to The Villager, Alistair Economakis wrote, "Catherine's and my intentions to make 47 E. Third St. our home were always true and genuine as is now evident."

The address was the site of a bitter landlord-tenant fight dating back to 2003. The Villager summarizes what transpired here — basically a handful of rent-stabilized tenants fought a lengthy battle to stop the eviction proceedings by Alistair Economakis who wished to turn the building into his private mansion.

Many EconoWatchers were skeptical that Economakis would ever return, choosing instead to flip the former 15-unit tenement building.

Meanwhile, City Councilmember Rosie Mendez tells The Villager that the Economakises are leasing part of the ground-floor space to a medical facility. Mendez also said that the landlord did not get the OK for a new curb cut for a garage to serve the medical facility.

Previously on EV Grieve:
And Economakis gets the whole building for his dream mansion

At the 47 E. 3rd St. protest

More coverage here.

Friday, July 6, 2012

The Villager tours the Economakis mansion on East Third Street


In an article last week at The Villager, Lincoln Anderson wrote about his recent tour of 47 E. Third St., the former tenement that Alistair Economakis renovated for his family. (This after clearing the five-story rental of its residents.)

We meant to link to it ... this week, the post also appears at The East Villager. So here's another chance to revisit the article in case you missed it... no photos, though. (The family thought "this would be an invasion of their privacy.")

Anderson offers highlights from the home, which includes a wrestling room ... he also tracks down a few of the building's former tenants who took buyouts ... as well as gets comments from City Councilmember Rosie Mendez.

One other tidbit: Alistair Economakis commissioned the Mosaic Man to create a border above the basement's basement-level storefront ... which Economakis hopes to rent out to a medical facility.

Read the whole article here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
And Economakis gets the whole building for his dream mansion

At the 47 E. 3rd St. protest

More coverage here.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

And Economakis gets the whole building for his dream mansion


The New York Post reports:

Eight holdout tenants who fought for five years to keep their millionaire landlord from turning their Lower East Side tenement into a mansion for himself agreed to be bought out yesterday.

The last rent-stabilized tenants of 47 E. Third St. said they gave in because they weren't confident they would beat real-estate baron Alistair Economakis in the Manhattan Supreme Court trial scheduled to begin yesterday.

Economakis, the son of a Greek shipping magnate, bought the six-story building for $900,000 in 2003 and said he needed it as a home for himself, his wife and two children.

He reached deals with seven of the 15 tenants but the others fought until yesterday.

The tenants will each receive $75,000 under the settlement, except for one elderly resident, who will get $175,000.


Here is the Web site for Alistair Economakis -- The Other Side of the Story: 47 East 3rd Street

Previously on EV Grieve.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Inside the Economakis dream mansion on East Third Street



In this week's issue of The Villager, Scoopy gets a tour of the renovations at 47 E. Third St., where the Economakis family is making their 11,600-square-foot dream home from the former 15-unit tenement.

To some excerpts!

Except for the areas that the family is still using, the place has been completely gutted in the past month — with just the floors, the stairs and the building’s brick shell remaining. The old roof is still on, but will be replaced soon. With peppy enthusiasm, Catherine Economakis led the tour, first showing us her “dream kitchen” she had installed on the second floor, complete with a fully stocked stainless steel refrigerator, adjacent to their combination living room/dining room. Moving into the freshly gutted areas — where nothing at all is left of the former apartments — Catherine showed where they will blast through a wall to create a new doorway so that she won’t have to make the “50-yard dash,” as she put it, between the kitchen and the new dining room proper — that is, once they build the dining room in the rear of the building where one of the tenant’s apartments used to be.


And!

The Economakises also proudly note they have even restored the building’s cornice, which had been removed, and have cleaned and pointed the old tenement’s front brickwork. Catherine stated they intend to live there their whole lives. Alistair, saying one can never know what the future holds, assured they’ll stay there at least 10 years — if not 20 years, and yes, maybe even forever.


Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Alistair Economakis is suing his cousin Evel for libel

And Economakis gets the whole building for his dream mansion

The 47 E. 3rd St. protest in video

At the 47 E. 3rd St. protest

Conspiracies: Where are all the fliers?

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

The other side of the story: the Alistair Economakis Web site


Alistair Economakis, owner of 47 E. 3rd St, has his own Web site called the other side of the story.


Here's what he has to say about his building and his family's plans for it.

In April 2007 my family and I moved into the space available to us and have made 47 East 3rd Street our home. Unfortunately, however, due to tenants remaining in apartments, our living space is not contiguous and we are required to go through the public hallway to get from one part of our home to the other. Despite the awkward set up of our living space, we are thrilled to finally be living in our building and we love our neighborhood.

For the rest of the other side of the story, go to his site.

[Photo via Flickr by trickydame]

Monday, March 11, 2013

Last remaining plywood removed from the Economakis him, revealing NO GARAGE



A tipster sent along the above photo, noting that the last piece of plywood outside 47 E. Third St. — the former tenement that Alistair Economakis renovated for his family — was recently removed. The address was the site of a bitter landlord-tenant fight dating back to 2003.

Several neighbors were convinced that the former 15-unit tenement would include a garage. There was an application for a curb cut, but the city never approved the request.

Last May, City Councilmember Rosie Mendez told The Villager that the Economakises are leasing part of the ground-floor space to a medical facility ... and the garage would serve that facility.

Anyway, the tipster said that he or she couldn't quite tell what was behind the plywood all that time. "It just looks like a black wall." No hidden doors?

[November 2011]

Previously on EV Grieve:
And Economakis gets the whole building for his dream mansion

More coverage here.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

What's doing at the Economakis dream mansion on East Third Street?

Scoopy has an update this week in The Villager.



Take it away Scoopy....:

Lower East Side activist Susan Howard told us that a friend of hers who lives near 47 E. Third St. — the East Village "mass eviction" building — hasn't seen evidence of any work going on there for a while and thinks construction has ground to a halt.

Howard urged us to call Alistair and find out what’s up. "Work is progressing..." He said he doesn’t have a specific completion date for when the building will be ready for them to live in as their luxurious, single-family mansion. He said he and his family recently moved out of the place, and are temporarily living in Brooklyn until the job is done. "It came time we had to move out of there," he said of 47 E. Third St. "Our bedroom's gone — it was relocated to a different spot. The steps are being relocated. It was much simpler to just open everything up and build everything at once." Economakis said all the building’s windows are boarded up on the inside, not because no work is going on, but to protect the windows while work is going on.


[EV Grieve file photo]

Previously on EV Grieve:
And Economakis gets the whole building for his dream mansion

The 47 E. 3rd St. protest in video

At the 47 E. 3rd St. protest

Conspiracies: Where are all the fliers?

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Dog eyes squirrel in Tompkins Square Park, by Bobby Williams]

Looking at "An Exhibition for Free Education" at Cooper Union (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Looking at the "Legends of the Lower East Side" coloring book (BoweryBook)

Please don't ask Alistair Economakis about the garage (Scoopy's Notebook, 2nd item)

Pat Place of the Bush Tetras among those exhibiting at Keyes Art Projects (Stupefaction)

Chillmaster Dance Party VI (The Gog Log, Marty After Dark)

President Obama eating at Gotham Bar & Grill on East 12th Street tonight (Grub Street and Eater)

Thank you to NYC Menu Girl for the kind post today! (NYC Menu Girl)

Prohibition-era Bill's Gay Nineties files for bankruptcy (Crain's via Eater)

Monday, July 9, 2012

111 St. Mark's Place is for sale

[Massey Knakal]

There's a new listing for 111 St. Mark's Place, the six-story building pictured here between Avenue A and First Avenue. The asking price: $4.2 million.

Here's the Massey Knakal listing:

The property features 2 commercial units and 10 residential apartments all which are junior 2-bedrooms. Of the 10 residential apartments 2 are RC, 2 are RS and 6 are FM. The average rent regulated rents are renting only at approximately $11/NSF which is a fraction of the market, as the FM units are renting for approximately $45/NSF. All of the FM units have been fully renovated and feature granite countertops and high-end appliances. The property currently generates approximately $280,272 in annual gross revenue and nets approximately $203,394 in annual operating income.

The property benefits from being less then one block away from Tompkins Square Park where residents can enjoy beautiful summer days as well as outdoor festivals and concerts. Prospective purchasers have an opportunity to acquire a well maintained, beautiful brick building located in one of the most desirable residential neighborhoods of Manhattan.

(Per the listing we learn that the two rent-controlled units are $285 and $256, respectively.)

According to public records, the building was previously sold in May 2009 for $1.1 million to a group that included Alistair Economakis.

Meanwhile, the vacant storefronts here will soon be home to the under-construction Macaron Parlour, as DNAinfo first reported back in February.

Per the Macaron Parlour website, the shop will open next month.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

"For them to want to kick us out so they can have a luxury mansion -- it's ethically and morally unconscionable"


From today's Post:

Rent-stabilized tenants can't stop a wealthy couple from turning their East Village apartment building into their dream mansion, the state's highest court ruled yesterday.
The Court of Appeals found that Alistair and Catherine Economakis can go ahead with eviction proceedings against their low-income tenants at 47 E. 3rd St., as long as they plan to use their apartments for themselves.
The Economakis' lawyer, Jeffrey Turkel, said that's exactly what his clients are trying to do - and said they've already converted 40 percent of the five-story building into a super-apartment for themselves and their two kids.
"They want to expand the home they already have in the building," Turkel said.
That also means evicting the rent-stabilized residents living in the rest of the building's six apartments, a move the tenants are vowing to fight.
"We're all working people, your typical, moderate-income working people. For them to want to kick us out so they can have a luxury mansion - it's ethically and morally unconscionable. I don't know what other word to use," said David Pultz, 56, who's lived in the building for the past 30 years.