After 15 years, Artikal is closing on 12th Street

Tomorrow is the last day in business for the 15-year-old Artikal Handcrafted Millinery at 510 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

The building is part of the East Village portfolio that Raphael Toledano bought last fall.

"They refused to even offer me a lease renewal," Artikal owner Holly Slayton said via email. "I am looking for a new location close to my house. I am a single mom so my location two doors away is ideal."

So far, Slayton said that she hasn't had any success finding a new space.

Slayton is also a resident of another Toledano-owner building, the first one that was reportedly inspected for high levels of lead dust.

She says that she has been working with local elected officials and community groups on measures to help protect small businesses against "predatory landlords."

Other businesses to close or relocate from Toledano-owned buildings include Podunk - the American Tearoom on East Fifth Street and Hakata Hot Pot and Sushi Lounge, which split space on St. Mark's Place.

Report: Steve Croman filed for alterations in 32% of his East Village properties

According to an analysis of Department of Buildings filings, there’s about one alteration application for every three East Village apartment units that Steve Croman owns, The Real Deal reports.

Croman of Croman Real Estate and 9300 Realty was arrested last month. In a lawsuit via New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, "Croman directs an illegal operation that wields harassment, coercion, and fraud to force rent-regulated tenants out of their apartments and convert their apartments into highly profitable market-rate units." In total, Croman was hit with 20 felony charges and faces 25 years in prison.

The Croman revelation was just one finding from The Real Deal's investigation of DOB permits dating to 2012 to determine which landlords filed the most permit applications relative to the number of units they own in the East Village.

Per TRD:

Other East Village landlords with a high alteration strike rate include Mark Scharfman’s Scharfman Organization, which owns about 4,000 units citywide ... The company filed 19 alteration permits at its 118 East Village units since 2012, a rate of about 16 percent.

Jared Kushner’s Kushner Companies, which has acquired a sizable portfolio in the neighborhood since 2012, also made the top five. It filed 77 alteration permit applications and owns at least 522 units in the neighborhood. Raphael Toledano’s Brookhill Properties, which owns about 400 units in the East Village, was fourth on the list and filed 53 alteration permit requests.

Per previous published reports, Kushner and Toledano have been accused of trying to force out tenants at East Village properties in the past. (Like here ... and here... and here...)

And what might all these filings mean?

Emily Goldstein, an organizer at the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, an affordable housing advocacy group, believes any correlation between a high rate of renovations and harassment allegations may be more than coincidence.

“I think it raises a red flag,” she said. “I think absolutely an unusual rate of alt filings is cause for concern.”

However, reps for the landlords "emphatically rejected such characterizations of renovation work."

Find the the full Real Deal report here.

Restaurant-ready space at 58 St. Mark's Place asking $19k

[Image via LoopNet]

Hakata Hot Pot and Sushi Lounge, housed in the retail spaces at 58 St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue, closed at the end of February.

In a message on Facebook, the owners said that they had lost their lease. (Hakata Hot Pot combined with sister restaurant Zen 6 the next block to the west at 31 St. Mark's Place.)

The two spaces are now on the market. According to the listing at Sinvin, the 1,400-square-foot space can be leased separately or together. Each space is asking $9,500; $19,000 for the whole thing.

Some bullet sales points:

• Charming intimate spaces for restaurants or coffee shops
• Brick walls & wood floors
• As of right, space for two tables in front of each store
• Landlord presenting each as a vanilla box
• Restaurant ready with venting, grease trap, 200 am electric panel, HVAC, and stubbed for gas and plumbing
• Wine & beer only, next to a church

Raphael Toledano became the building's landlord last fall.

Natori, a longtime favorite, closed at this address in November 2012.

Getting to know Raphael Toledano

The Real Deal checks in with a profile on Raphael Toledano, the 26-year-old developer who has been buying up buildings around the East Village.

The feature delves into his controversial record, such as the eight lawsuits that he has been hit with since February 2014, and his heavy reliance on debt. (Per the article: "New York City multifamily deals are leveraged at an average 50 to 65 percent — Toledano’s deal, by comparison, comes out to 128 percent.")

The feature, not exactly an image softener, notes that Toledano made "frat-tastic boasts about his wealth."

“I’m worth a fuckload of money, bro,” he said.

The statement was all the more remarkable considering that just five years ago the New Jersey native was waiting tables.

In an industry known for colorful personalities, Toledano — who goes by the nickname “Rafi” — has emerged as an unlikely up-and-coming player in the city’s competitive multifamily market. Over the past nine months, he has become one of the East Village’s biggest landlords, after his investment firm, Brookhill Properties, agreed to buy 28 buildings in two separate portfolios from the Tabak family for a combined $140 million. He currently owns more than 400 units — counting only the buildings he’s already closed on.

Altogether, Toledano values his entire portfolio, the bulk of which are aging East Village walk-ups, at $500 million.

Toledano’s plan is to rehab the units, paving the way for destabilization and rent hikes. It’s a playbook move for multifamily investors. But listen to him talk, and he might as well be building on Billionaires’ Row.

“I consider myself the ultimate of developers because I’m taking a run-down, neglected building and developing it,” he said. “Gary Barnett has the easiest job — he gets vacant land, he gets an architect, a good contractor, and he builds up. For me, it’s not like that.”

The article notes that Toledano is also working to introduce a new line of shoes he designed in partnership with a Portugal-based shoemaker.

And while he has "recently sold a few buildings in Murray Hill and Gramercy Park for an undisclosed price, the core East Village assets, he said, he will keep "'for eternity.'"

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Report: Residents at 444 E. 13th St. will receive a $1 million settlement over claims of harassment by Raphael Toledano

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Health Department to inspect Raphael Toledano's East Village properties for toxic levels of lead dust

Report: Residents at 444 E. 13th St. will receive a $1 million settlement over claims of harassment by Raphael Toledano

[Photo from May 2015 by Stacie Joy]

Landlord Raphael Toledano has agreed to pay a little more than $1 million to settle claims that he harassed tenants at 444 E. 13th St., according to The Real Deal.

Last spring, rent-regulated tenants at 444 E. 13th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue accused Toledano, 26, and a management company he hired of harassment and intimidation. A staff attorney at the Urban Justice Center, who is representing the East 13th Street tenants, told reporters during a rally outside the building last May that "there are tape recorded conversations where the landlord is threatening to drop dynamite on the building and then let everyone 'figure it out themselves.'"

Jeffrey Goldman, an attorney for Toledano, denied the harassment claims at the time.

"I have not seen him engage in any behavior or conduct that would give rise to an investigation let alone a finding of harassment,” Goldman told the Daily News.

The settlement between Toledano and several rent-stabilized tenants at No. 444 was finalized May 6, per The Real Deal, who reports that the New York Attorney General’s office and the state Homes and Community Renewal’s tenant protection unit are continuing their joint investigation into the harassment claims.

Toledano bought the building for $6.1 million in January 2015. Later in 2015 he bought a 16-building parcel in the neighborhood.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Health Department to inspect Raphael Toledano's East Village properties for toxic levels of lead dust

Health Department to inspect Raphael Toledano's East Village properties for toxic levels of lead dust

[EVG file photo of 233-235 E. 5th St.]

Last month, we shared a letter that the Toledano Tenants Coalition wrote to elected officials about their ongoing concerns with the demolition taking place in properties run by Brookhill Properties and its founder and principal, Raphael Toledano.

To date, three of the buildings, 235 E. Fifth St., 233 E. Fifth St. and 514 E. 12th St., were said to have elevated lead levels in common areas, according to the City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH).

On Friday, the elected officials — led by State Sen. Brad Hoylman and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer — blasted Toledano for unsafe living conditions, including prolonged exposure to lead dust.

"I’ve heard from scores of constituents about the harassment they’ve endured in Toledano buildings. And now we’ve learned their health is at risk, too, because of dangerously high levels of lead dust," Hoylman said in a statement. "The situation is outrageous and unacceptable. Mr. Toledano needs to remedy this immediately."

In response, the DOHMH has promised to inspect all of Toledano-owned buildings for possible lead dust contamination. (He closed on a 16-building portfolio in the neighborhood last fall.)

Construction-related issues aside, tenants continue to report feeling harassed by Brookhill.

"Many long-term residents of rent-regulated apartments have been served with frivolous legal actions that require them to hire lawyers even though it has been clear that the actions would not make it to court," said Nina d'Alessandro, a resident of 231 E. Fifth St. "Then they have been approached with low buyout offers. We have tried to meet with Mr. Toledano to express our concerns and request that our rights to health and homes be safeguarded, only to be evaded and met with more intimidation."

The letters from the elected officials to Toledano and the Health Department are below. The letters were signed by Hoylman and Brewer; Assembly Members Deborah Glick, Richard N. Gottfried and Brian Kavanagh; and Council Members Corey Johnson and Rosie Mendez. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney signed the letter to DOHMH.

A spokesperson for Brookhill told the Daily News that any health and safety issues brought to its attention will be immediately remedied.





Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal

Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio

More about alleged harassment and landlord visits via Brook Hill Properties

In op-ed, Raphael Toledano says that he wants 'to make the East Village a better place'

Report: East Village landlord Raphael Toledano allegedly misrepresented himself as a lawyer

The Villager looks at landlord Raphael Toledano's criminal past

An open letter to landlord Raphael Toledano from the Toledano Tenants Coalition

Report: Management company sues Raphael Toledano for backing out of $130 million loan

Ongoing concerns about demolition work and elevated lead levels in Toledano-owned buildings

Sunday is the last day for Podunk – the American Tearoom on East 5th Street

As we first reported back in February, the 14-year-old Podunk – the American Tearoom, the family-run cafe on East Fifth Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square, is closing after service this Sunday.

The owners have said they are relocating, though they haven't divulged the location just yet...



You can keep tabs on their Instagram and Facebook accounts.

The building that houses Podunk at 231 E. Fifth St. was part of the portfolio that Raphael Toledano’s Brookhill Properties purchased last fall.

Ongoing concerns about demolition work and elevated lead levels in Toledano-owned buildings

[Image from April 12 via the Toledano Tenants Coalition]

We received the following letter on Friday (other recipients include Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, State Sen. Brad Hoylman and City Council member Rosie Mendez)....

To: Raphael Toledano and Brookhill Properties
From: Toledano Tenants Coalition
Date: 4/20/16

The Toledano Tenants Coalition is gravely concerned about demolition taking place at buildings owned by you, or entities controlled by you.

The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) has placed violations for elevated levels of lead dust in several of your buildings, causing the Coalition concern for tenant safety during ongoing demolition. Specifically, the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) found that samples taken at three buildings you own contain elevated lead levels ranging from 1.5 to 16 times acceptable levels.

The three buildings, 235 East 5th Street, 233 East 5th Street, and 514 East 12th Street, were found to have elevated lead levels in common areas. Two of these buildings are home to children under six years old. Elevated lead levels can be hazardous to anyone, and can cause physical and developmental disabilities in children under six years old.

When you, or entities controlled by you, do demolition work that poses a potential risk of lead exposure to tenants, we demand that:

• A proper lead mitigation plan that utilizes an EPA-certified abatement contractor is put in place;
• Local Law 1, the New York City Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act of 2004, is followed.

In addition, we demand you take the following precautions to protect tenants:

• Notify building residents two days in advance of demolition work.
• Post warning signs outside work areas while work’s in progress.
• Clean, clear, and seal off work areas.
• HEPA-vacuum before doing work.
• Cover/seal ALL windows, floors, vents and doorways with plastic and waterproof tape.
• HEPA-vacuum and wet-mop work areas after each day's work.
• Store work materials in sealed containers, or remove them from premises after each day’s work.
• Carefully discard debris, and ensure that no dust or debris is tracked out of work areas.
• Spray plastic barriers with water mist, and safely remove them; fold and seal plastic in plastic bags.

Tenants have been advised that if they don’t believe you’re complying with the law, including the legally mandated demands outlined above, they should call 311, and report your activities to the relevant city agencies, including DOB, HPD, DEP, and DOHMH.

In closing, please don’t use demolition/renovation as a ploy to begin buyout discussions with tenants.

Sincerely,
The Toledano Tenants Coalition

On April 12, several members of the Toledano Tenants Coalition and other activists gathered in front of the Brookhill offices at 298 Fifth Ave. "to fight against eviction efforts and other problems at their buildings," as The Villager reports in its current issue.

A Brookhill spokesperson told The Villager that they dispatched "a professional remediation crew [that] quickly rectified the situation and brought the property into full compliance" upon receiving a notice from the Department of Health.

"We continue with constant monitoring of the property to ensure the health and safety of all of our tenants, which is our primary concern," the spokesperson told The Villager.

However, Coalition members said that the work continues unabated.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal

Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio

More about alleged harassment and landlord visits via Brook Hill Properties

In op-ed, Raphael Toledano says that he wants 'to make the East Village a better place'

Report: East Village landlord Raphael Toledano allegedly misrepresented himself as a lawyer

The Villager looks at landlord Raphael Toledano's criminal past

An open letter to landlord Raphael Toledano from the Toledano Tenants Coalition

Report: Management company sues Raphael Toledano for backing out of $130 million loan

Podunk, the tearoom on East 5th Street, is moving after Mother's Day

[Image via Facebook]

Podunk — the American Tearoom, the family-run cafe on East Fifth Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square, will be closing after service this coming Mother's Day, May 8.

Until then, the 14-year old Podunk is posting a daily countdown "of favorite pics, recipes, ideas, thoughts and lists till the day we go" on their Instagram and Facebook accounts.



So far, no word on a new location... or the reason for the move.

The building that houses Podunk at 231 E. Fifth St. was part of the portfolio that Raphael Toledano’s Brookhill Properties purchased last fall.

Report: Management company sues Raphael Toledano for backing out of $130 million loan

Landlord Raphael Toledano is facing more legal woes following the purchase last September of a 16-building East Village portfolio.

The Real Deal has the story:

An affiliate of Larry Gluck’s Stellar Management is suing Raphael Toledano, claiming the investor accepted a $130 million mortgage to finance the acquisition of his East Village portfolio, but then backed out of the deal and refused to pay the $1.9 million break-up fee.

“Almost immediately after signing the contract on July 15,2015,” Stellar states in the suit, “Toledano opted to take out a $124 million loan from Madison Realty Capital to finance the portfolio purchase. Toledano's agreement with Madison Realty Capital was in direct violation of the exclusivity provision of the contract and constitutes as a breach of contract.”

The is the latest legal matter involving Toledano to make headlines. Last spring, rent-regulated tenants at 444 E. 13th St. accused Toledano, 26, and a management company he hired of harassment and intimidation.

Prior to closing on the East Village deal this past fall, Toledano's uncle, Rosewood Realty Group's Aaron Jungreis, sued his nephew, claiming that he was squeezed out of the deal. (That suit was later settled.)

In December, The Real Deal reported on a possible link between Toledano and a fake law firm, Truman & Wildes LLP.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Reader report: Large portfolio of East Village buildings ready to change hands

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal

Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio

More about alleged harassment and landlord visits via Brook Hill Properties

Brook Hill Properties launches chocolate offensive

In op-ed, Raphael Toledano says that he wants 'to make the East Village a better place'

Report: East Village landlord Raphael Toledano allegedly misrepresented himself as a lawyer

The Villager looks at landlord Raphael Toledano's criminal past

An open letter to landlord Raphael Toledano from the Toledano Tenants Coalition

The Villager looks at landlord Raphael Toledano's criminal past

In compiling nearly a 20-building portfolio in the East Village, 25-year-old landlord Raphael Toledano has been accused of allegedly harassing his tenants, and other misdeeds, according to several published reports and a letter from the Toledano Tenants Coalition.

Now tenants are learning about Toledano's criminal past in an article published this week at The Villager. According to the paper, "he was convicted of aggravated assault and causing bodily injury less than four years ago, and once was charged with trying to swindle a bank out of hundreds of dollars, according to New Jersey court records and police reports."

Specifically:

In a 2012 confrontation that landed two teenagers in the hospital, Toledano allegedly beat the two youths with what police reports alternatively describe as a “crowbar,” “a branch” and “a metal or wood object approximately two and a half feet long.”

And in a separate case three years earlier, Toledano was charged with defrauding TD Bank of $500 in a scheme involving multiple withdrawals from three different banks.

A spokesperson for Toledano and his company, Brookhill Properties, dismissed this disclosure as "character assassination," noting that the incidents "have absolutely nothing to do with Brookhill Properties or the company's conduct as a landlord."

An open letter to landlord Raphael Toledano from the Toledano Tenants Coalition

[EVG file photo of 233-235 E. 5th St.]

Members of the Toledano Tenants Coalition are distributing the following letter to media outlets and local elected officials about the ongoing situation at buildings purchased last fall by Raphael Toledano. Some of the following was also covered in a recent article published in The Villager. The Toledano Tenants Coalition shared a copy with us before its circulation elsewhere...

Dear Mr. Toledano,

Prior to and since your purchase of the Tabak real estate portfolio in Fall 2015, tenants have experienced an alarming amount of alleged harassment. You have articulated your goal to many of us: you wish to remove rent-regulated residents from their homes. Given your intention to remove units from rent-regulation, the publicity surrounding 444 East 13th Street, and other legal matters, tenants of 17 buildings in your portfolio have formed a coalition.

Since June 2015, this coalition has recorded numerous instances of such alleged harassment perpetrated by you, Isaac Toledano, and agents of Brookhill Properties. You and your property managers have allegedly engaged in activities such as:

1. Serving tenants with frivolous notices to vacate and holdover lawsuits;

2. Threatening to shut off basic services such as heat and hot water;

3. Refusing to renew rent-stabilized leases based on meritless allegations;

4. Threatening that impending construction will be an extreme nuisance and will render apartments uninhabitable in your buildings;

5. Following tenants in and around their buildings, after hours, on the street, and close to where they live;

6. Calling tenants to discuss buyout offers, even after tenants have firmly expressed that they are not interested;

7. Pressuring tenants to quickly accept buyout offers.

We would like our interactions with you to reflect the civility and respect that we believe we deserve. We further ask that you examine your methods of operation, and comply with all laws, including the Tenant Protection Act of 2008, and the newly enacted buyout protection. We would ask that you treat your role as a landlord with the gravity it deserves, and that you respect both the letter and the spirit of the law.

Sincerely,

The Toledano Tenants Coalition

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal

Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio

More about alleged harassment and landlord visits via Brook Hill Properties

Brook Hill Properties launches chocolate offensive

In op-ed, Raphael Toledano says that he wants 'to make the East Village a better place'

Report: East Village landlord Raphael Toledano allegedly misrepresented himself as a lawyer

Happy holidays from Raphael Toledano and Brookhill Properties

The gift-giving by Raphael Toledano's Brookhill Properties continues this holiday season.

After closing on a 16-building East Village portfolio back in the fall, residents received a box of chocolates as a welcome from their new landlord.

Some tenants in these newly acquired buildings have accused Toledano and his associates of predatory practices in various published reports (The New York Times, Daily News, The Villager and DNAinfo) and at least one lawsuit.

Previously, rent-regulated tenants at the Toledano-owned 444 E. 13th St. received wine and fruit baskets back in May after the continued lack of basic building services. (This group of tenants filed a lawsuit against the property management.)

And more recently, Toledano tenants received another gift ...



... $20 gift cards to Ninth Street Espresso.

One tenant described the reaction to the gift from his fellow building tenants, many of whom are not having their leases renewed and facing eviction, as "surprised confusion."

Another Toledano tenant had the following response:

Thank you for your kind holiday greetings, and for your thoughtful gift card supporting our neighbors.

If you truly want to make good on your generous wishes for my peace and happiness in the new year, please consider dropping your case against me and renewing my lease.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Reader report: Large portfolio of East Village buildings ready to change hands

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal

Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio

More about alleged harassment and landlord visits via Brook Hill Properties

Brook Hill Properties launches chocolate offensive

In op-ed, Raphael Toledano says that he wants 'to make the East Village a better place'

Report: East Village landlord Raphael Toledano allegedly misrepresented himself as a lawyer

Report: East Village landlord Raphael Toledano allegedly misrepresented himself as a lawyer

The Real Deal has published an investigative article about new East Village landlord Raphael Toledano, and how he allegedly misrepresented himself as a lawyer.

According to the article:

In the summer of 2014, a New York landlord with a modest portfolio received a letter from a certain Raphael Toledano, Esq. In the letter, Toledano allegedly identified himself as belonging to Truman & Wildes LLP, a Park Avenue law firm. He claimed to be representing real estate investor Josh Zegen in a 1031 exchange, and assured the landlord that his client was interested in one of his buildings and would “pay above market value” for it.

The issue, however, is that Truman & Wildes LLP is bogus. It is not a licensed law firm in the tri-state area, and isn’t even a registered entity in Delaware, Connecticut, New Jersey or New York. Its website, which was taken down shortly after The Real Deal began making inquiries, appears to be a basic web template with language lifted verbatim from legitimate law firms. Misrepresenting oneself as a lawyer is illegal.

For his part, Toledano, a former broker and now a prominent local real estate investor, denies any connection with the law firm. But property records and interviews with his former employees, business associates and industry players indicate otherwise.

In compiling nearly a 20-building portfolio, the majority of them in the East Village, the 25-year-old Toledano "has been peppered with allegations of cheating his partners and harassing his tenants," as The Real Deal put it.

To date, rent-stabilized tenants at 444 E. 13th St. have filed suit against him for alleged harassment. In addition, in August, Aaron Jungreis, one of the city's elite multifamily brokers, sued Toledano, "claiming he was squeezed out of a $100 million deal" to acquire 16 East Village buildings. (That suit was later settled.)

In addition, the landlord of Toledano's Flatiron office reportedly filed suit against him for failing to pay rent.

As for multiple identifications, City Limits noted this in an article about Toledano and 444 E. 13th St. back in September:

Curiously, there are numerous websites with similar URLs purporting to have been created by Raphael Toledanos across the country that fill up Google search results for his name. One Raphael Toledano is "a fervent traveler from the incredible state of Chicago," another is a "19-year-old boy from Ohio who wants to become an internationally recognized soccer player," and still another is "an Assistant Principal in one of the reputed schools of Rhode Island." Each of these sites was created on January 28, 2015 according to registration information on whois.net.

The last post on each of the sites is Feb. 24.

Toledano and Brook Hill closed on the 16-building East Village portfolio for $97 million back in the fall.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Reader report: Large portfolio of East Village buildings ready to change hands

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal

Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio

More about alleged harassment and landlord visits via Brook Hill Properties

Brook Hill Properties launches chocolate offensive

In op-ed, Raphael Toledano says that he wants 'to make the East Village a better place'

Report: Toledano tenants hanging tough in face of evictions

The Villager checks in with a piece this week about residents now living in buildings owned by new landlord Raphael Toledo (pictured right).

As the paper notes, to date, "Toledano, who purchased more than a dozen properties in the area this year, hasn’t made the best of impressions on his new tenants, who have reported late-night phone calls and ominous visits by his associates that leave them feeling threatened."

And there have been a few eviction notices, which arrived after buyout offers. Lawyer David Frazer currently represents three Toledano tenants in rent-regulated apartments in the neighborhood.

“Two of the cases that I currently represent involve completely made-up allegations by the landlord, one of which they’ve already caved in on and given my client a renewal lease,” Frazer told The Villager.

The attorney said that case involved a tenant who had a pseudonym listed on his mailbox from the beginning of his tenancy, which the landlord used as evidence to claim that the man was illegally subletting the apartment.

Read the whole Villager article here.

In a $97 million deal, Toledano and Brook Hill closed on a 16-building East Village portfolio back in the fall.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Reader report: Large portfolio of East Village buildings ready to change hands

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal

Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio

More about alleged harassment and landlord visits via Brook Hill Properties

Brook Hill Properties launches chocolate offensive

In op-ed, Raphael Toledano says that he wants 'to make the East Village a better place'

Report: Lawsuit accuses Raphael Toledano of not paying his office rent

Report: Lawsuit accuses Raphael Toledano of not paying his office rent

Rent-stabilized tenants at the Raphael Toledano-owned 444 E. 13th St. have claimed that they were allegedly threatened and harassed to leave their homes.

Toledano is now reportedly having landlord issues of his own.

Per The Real Deal:

Landlord HRC Corporation is accusing broker-turned-investor Raphael Toledano of failing to pay rent at his Flatiron District office.

HRC filed suit Wednesday, asking a State Supreme Court judge to award it a total of $6.4 million, the amount allegedly due over the entire 10-year lease, plus damages.

In a statement, a Brook Hill spokesperson wrote "We are not in default of the lease."

In a $97 million deal, Toledano and Brook Hill closed on a 16-building East Village portfolio back in the fall.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Reader report: Large portfolio of East Village buildings ready to change hands

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal

Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio

More about alleged harassment and landlord visits via Brook Hill Properties

Brook Hill Properties launches chocolate offensive

In op-ed, Raphael Toledano says that he wants 'to make the East Village a better place'

About 'a coordinated visit' to buildings owned by Brookhill Properties on East 5th Street

[EVG file photo of 233-235 E. 5th St.]

Despite assurances to the contrary, some residents who live in the 16 buildings that Raphael Toledano's Brookhill Properties recently purchased are apprehensive about their future rental situations… especially with the news that has been coming out of 444 E. 13th St. in recent months, where rent-stablized tenants claim that they were allegedly threatened and harassed to leave their homes after Brookhill's January acquisition. (See The New York Times and DNAinfo for more background.)

We received the following statement from the East Fifth Street Toledano Tenants Coalition, consisting of five Toledano-owned buildings on Fifth Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square.

[T]hese five buildings on East Fifth Street received a coordinated visit last Thursday [Oct. 22] by a group of representatives from the New York State Attorney General’s office, The New York City Department of Buildings and The New York State Division of Housing and Renewal. All apartment doors were knocked on, and representatives spoke with available tenants, made inspections of apartment conditions and building conditions and issued violations to the buildings. Perhaps the presence of these state and city agencies will ensure that Toledano’s tenants on East Fifth Street will not have to suffer what those at 444 East 13th St. did.

Meanwhile, a resident on East Fifth Street passed along this letter, noting that "Brookhill forgot to pay his post office box fee! Attached is a letter all East Fifth Street residents received last week."


[Click on image for larger view]

Per the note:

We are doing our best to have your monthly rent payments processed as soon as possible and apologize for any delay in doing so during this first month of ownership. Moving forward you can be confident that processing of your payments will be timely and accurate. This being said, if you have found that your rent check has not been processed for the month of October 2015 and your bank account has not been debited, please re-send your payment to the below address. We have been informed by USPS that there was a system glitch, which resulted in the return of numerous tenant's rent payments. This was remedied on October 19,2015.

If your payment was processed and thus your account has been debited, no action is required on your part. Please continue to ensure that your check is made payable to the order of
the specific LLC designated to your building.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Reader report: Large portfolio of East Village buildings ready to change hands

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal

Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio

More about alleged harassment and landlord visits via Brook Hill Properties

Brook Hill Properties launches chocolate offensive

In op-ed, Raphael Toledano says that he wants 'to make the East Village a better place'

More about alleged harassment and landlord visits via Brook Hill Properties

[Photo from May by Stacie Joy]

Raphael Toledano and his Brook Hill Properties continue to make headlines. Here's a look at two recent published reports…

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In case you missed the Page 1 story in The New York Times yesterday … the paper published additional recordings between rent-stabilized tenants of Toledano's 444 E. 13th St. and one of his alleged brokers.

In an ongoing legal fight, the tenants submitted audio and video recordings to housing court depicting the agents trying to scare them into leaving their apartments.

“The building is going to be shaking; the vermin will start running,” one agent, who identified himself as Newton Hinds in a cellphone audio recording, said about the planned demolition.

According to the Times, Toledano denied harassing the tenants, and blamed Goldmark Property Management, which he subsequently fired, for all the problems. (Lawyers for Goldmark have denied in court papers that Hinds worked for them.)

In any event, the state's Tenant Protection Unit and attorney general's office are reportedly investigating the situation at No. 444, which Toledano bought in January for $6.1 million ... "and had subpoenaed information on Mr. Toledano's properties."

Toledano's East Village portfolio has grown substantially in recent months. In September, Brook Hill Properties completed the purchase of 16 East Village buildings from the Tabak family, paying $97 million for a portfolio that amounts to 301 apartments and 15 retail spaces.

The current issue of The Villager has a detailed article about the encounters residents of the recently acquired buildings on East Fifth Street have had with the 25-year-old Toledano, who often goes by Raffi.

To date, tenants in six of Toledano’s E. Fifth St. buildings have documented more than 140 interactions, altercations and outright threats by Toledano and his camp during the two-month period from this July 8 through Sept. 8. Some have reported being followed in the street by Raffi’s cousin Isaac Toledano, while others report encounters with a group of men dressed in black stepping out of SUV’s and insisting on entering and inspecting tenants’ apartments.

However, according to the article, there haven't been any "recorded complaints or reports of harassment by Toledano and his team" since Sept. 8. And as we noted on Sept. 23, some tenants in the buildings received welcome letters and boxes of chocolates from Brook Hill.

The charm offensive wasn't limited to residents. A volunteer at the 6th Street and Avenue B Community Garden shared this letter with us:

By way of introduction, I work with Brook Hill Properties, a new landlord in the East Village. One of our commitments is to serve the community and its residents. As part of that, we are interested in partnering with organizations such as the 6&B Garden to explore ways in which we can work together in the East Village neighborhood.

We would welcome the opportunity to come to the garden and learn more about your vision and goals as a leading community group. In doing so, we are hoping to better understand the role we can play in becoming an active community partner.

Meanwhile, according to The Villager, Toledano is currently under contract to purchase an additional 11 buildings in the East Village, West Village and Murray Hill for $55 million.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Reader report: Large portfolio of East Village buildings ready to change hands

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal

Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio

Brookhill Properties launches chocolate offensive

Brookhill Properties launches chocolate offensive

Raphael Toledano's Brookhill Properties recently closed on a 16-building East Village portfolio.

An EVG reader who lives at one of the properties, 327 E. E. 12th St., passed along the welcome package that the Brookhill Property management team left yesterday for residents — a small box of chocolates… which accompanied a fairly innocuous letter about the change in ownership.

The letter points out that "We pride ourselves on our tenant relations department and will go to all lengths to make sure that you are satisfied with our services."

Beleaguered rent-regulated tenants at the Toledano-owned 444 E. 13th St. received wine and fruit baskets back in May after the continued lack of basic building services. Earlier in May, residents at No. 444 filed a lawsuit against Toledano and the management company, Goldmark Property Management, for "deplorable conditions" as well as for alleged ongoing threats and harassment. (Toledano later reportedly fired Goldmark Property Management after news of the lawsuit broke.)

In August, state officials served subpoenas on Goldmark Property Managmenet, investigating whether the company threatened tenants with police raids, prostitution stings, evictions and the shut off of essential service, according to The Real Deal.

According to an article on 444. E. 13th St. that City Limits published last Thursday, there were 244 open violations of the city's housing maintenance code for hazards such as cracks in the walls and ceilings and infestations of cockroaches, mice, and bedbugs at one point in June. Since then, City Limits reports that the number of open violations at the East 13th Street building has been reduced to 84.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Reader report: Large portfolio of East Village buildings ready to change hands

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal

Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio

Report: Raphael Toledano secures $124 million loan for 16-building East Village portfolio

Raphael Toledano's Brookhill Properties secured a $124 million loan for his purchase of a 16-building East Village portfolio, the Commercial Observer reported yesterday.

New York-based real estate investment firm Madison Realty Capital provided the loan for Brookhill, who closed on the $97 million deal with the Tabak family earlier this month.

These are the 16 properties, as previously reported:

• 27 St. Marks Place – 20 residential units; 2 commercial units
• 66 East 7th Street – 22 residential units; 2 commercial units
• 95 East 7th Street – 20 residential units
• 223 East 5th Street – 18 residential units
• 228 East 6th Street – 20 residential units; 2 commercial units
• 229 East 5th Street – 10 residential units
• 231 East 5th Street – 8 residential units; 2 commercial units
• 233 East 5th Street – 10 residential units
• 235 East 5th Street – 10 residential units
• 253 East 10th Street – 20 residential units; 1 commercial unit
• 323-325 East 12th Street – 37 residential units
• 327 East 12th Street – 22 residential units; 2 commercial units
• 329 East 12th Street – 24 residential units
• 334 East 9th Street – 20 residential units; 2 commercial units
• 510 East 12th Street – 20 residential units; 2 commercial units
• 514 East 12th Street – 20 residential units

Per the Commercial Observer:

Through the repositioning, Brookhill plans to upgrade the common areas in the buildings and renovate the residential units to maximize their square footage.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Reader report: Large portfolio of East Village buildings ready to change hands

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal

Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio

Photo of 253 E. 10th St. and 27 St. Mark’s Place via The Real Deal