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.

A good question

As we pointed out Saturday, Third Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue was closed off while a crane brought in stuff for the Economakis family tenement-to-mansion conversion.

And a reader brought up a good question about some neighbors down the street who may not appreciate the street being blocked off for eight hours:

any word from the hells angels?

Economakis mansion renovation shuts down Third Street today

No traffic today on Third Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. At 47 E. Third St., the Economakis family is creating their 11,600-square-foot dream home from the former 15-unit tenement.





One neighbor watching the crane at work wondered how many more Saturdays would be affected by the construction.

Previously.

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.

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.

The 47 E. 3rd St. protest in video

Here are some short clips from the protest at 47 E. 3rd St. tonight. I was there for the first leg of the protest tour. (UPDATED: Jeremiah and Bob Arihood have in-depth coverage of the evening.)











Earlier:
At the 47 E. 3rd Street protest

Reminder

At the Bowery Wine Bar protest

At the 47 E. 3rd Street protest

Here are a few photos from the protest at 47 E. 3rd St. tonight. I was there for the first leg of the protest tour. It was fairly calm and orderly. The protestors were fenced in by the police, roughly a building and a half away from No. 47. (By the way, the police could not have been nicer. At least while I was there.) UPDATED: Jeremiah and Bob Arihood have in-depth coverage of the evening.

Reminder

Bob Arihood has the lowdown on the evening here.

Meanwhile, in fairness. Some equal time:



Previously on EV Grieve (Be sure to read the comments):
Conspiracies: Where are all the fliers?

Conspiracies: Where are all the fliers?

Last night, I saw several fliers around the neighborhood for the July 11 protest at 47 E. 3rd St. When I went by where the fliers had been (dramatic pause), they were gone! It's possible, of course, that the fliers were removed by local shopkeepers or people interested in going or neatniks. Or! Someone is purposefully taking them down so that no one knows about the protest...

Which you can read more about in Patrick Hedlund's Mixed Use column in this week's The Villager.

Piece of cake: July 11, 8 p.m.

[I've been away, so in case this has already been covered...]

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]

"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.

The backstory.