During the past year she has been locked in a legal fight in Manhattan housing court to get [Jared] Kushner’s real estate firm, Kushner Cos., to remediate the mold.
Even though an inspector she hired detected the spores in March, Winkler said she had to go to court several times before Kushner Cos. agreed to conduct its own mold test in the fall.
It took more court dates to get Kushner to agree to pick a remediator who will actually get rid of the mold — which has been shown to cause respiratory problems and to inflame allergies.
It’s still unclear when the remediator will actually make the fix, Winkler said.
“It’s harassment to get me out,” she said. Kushner Cos. did not respond to requests for comment.
Tenants in several of these buildings have accused Kushner Cos. in court records of trying to drive them out through harassment, construction and dilapidated conditions.
State records also show that, in the past five years, the agency that oversees rent-stabilized and rent-controlled apartments has penalized Kushner Cos. in at least 11 instances over diminished services or poor conditions at one of its buildings in the city.
In those cases, the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal has ordered the monthly rent reduced for one or multiple rent-regulated units in the building until the problems were fixed.
Thanks everyone for helping create this nearly five-and-a-half-year Out and About project. I'm going to have to step back from it for awhile as my wife is due soon with our first child, which we're really excited about.
It's been an incredible experience that has taught me so much more about the spirit of this neighborhood. I can't imagine there are many other places where I could run outside for 30 minutes or an hour and come across such inspiring and interesting people, week in and week out, so willing and enthusiastic to stop and chat about their lives and the neighborhood.
There were many weeks where I was overworked or tired and not feeling like standing on a street corner, and those were always the times where I came back having shared a small moment with the most incredible people. I would often walk back feeling so much more inspired and energetic than when I had walked out the door.
Thanks to everyone who has stopped for an interview and opened up to a complete stranger. I hope I did you all justice — I definitely tried my best. Thanks to everyone's comments each week, of which I read every one of them. And thanks to Grieve for the sharp editing and advice. It's been a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Originally launched in 2013 as the world’s first Eco Friendly Food Truck, Neapolitan Express was officially introduced by lead investors, energy innovators and business tycoons T. Boone Pickens of Clean Energy Fuels. Powered entirely by alternative energies, the Neapolitan Express pizza truck reduces greenhouse gases by up to 99%. Our patent-pending fueling technology fully powers truck operations, while simultaneously cuts down pollutants to a fraction.
In a city with pizzerias on almost every corner, Pizza Rollio serves the seemingly impossible: a totally unique pie. Its rectangular creations are light and delicate — built on paper-thin sheets of dough that are baked and sliced into wide ribbons perfect for wrapping around peppery bites of alfalfa sprouts and arugula, the salad-y condiment served with every order.
In addition to its classic margherita pie, Pizza Rollio serves specials like “The Godmother" topped with fig, gorgonzola and mozzarella; the “Eggs Benedict” topped with Canadian bacon, fresh egg, chives and hollandaise sauce; and the “Mushroom Truffle Madness,” with mushrooms, truffle oil and mozzarella.
Manhole explodes and catches fire in the East Village https://t.co/M3VX42WmdZ pic.twitter.com/nyQVaSkiBI
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) December 22, 2017
Con Edison responded to the scene and they say that no one was injured and there are no outages as a result of the explosion.
They are now making repairs.
So far, it's not yet known what led to the explosion.
A festive group of holiday carolers from the TTC (Tenants Taking Control, formerly the Toledano Tenants Coalition) visited the Midtown offices of Madison Realty Capital on Monday morning. But the songs they sang were much more ironic than celebratory.
"Madison is Coming to Town" was sung to a familiar tune, but featured such lyrical enhancements as "♫ They’re making a loan ♪ They’re raising the price ♪. They’re funding a landlord who’s not very nice ♫ Madison is coming to town ♪"
In 2015, Madison Realty loaned $124 million to Rafael Toledano, a 25 year old with no track record as a landlord and a conviction for aggravated assault, so that he could buy a "portfolio" of 15 buildings in Manhattan, mostly in the East Village.
Through demolition that generated lead dust, outright neglect of the properties, aggressive buyout offers and threatened lawsuits, Toledano removed about a third of the 450+ rent-regulated tenants from those buildings before defaulting on Madison's loan and then facing foreclosure in February 2017.
On Monday, the group of remaining tenants also sang "I Had a Little Landlord" (to the tune of "I Have a Little Dreidel"). One verse went: "♪ I had a little landlord ♫ He bought the place one day ♪ He got a check from Madison ♫ And then he couldn’t pay! ♪"
The LLCs once controlled by Toledano staved off the foreclosure in March 2017 by each declaring bankruptcy. Through bankruptcy court, control of the buildings was given over in April to Silverstone Properties, the property management arm of... Madison Realty Capital. If you think that sounds kind of circular, you're not alone. It's a bit like singing a round.
In May 2017, the New York State Attorney General's office filed a massive objection (PDF here) and declaration, accusing Madison Realty Capital of practices “Consistent with a Predatory ‘Loan to Own’ Business Model.” The filings dissected the striking irregularities of the deal. Among other oddities, it references...
• "fatal flaws" in the underwriting of the loan, as evaluated by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. • clear evidence that Signature Bank (an investor in the loan) foresaw that Toledano would default, and that Madison was well positioned to take over the properties.
• floor plans for the apartments that show newly-added, windowless bedrooms, which are illegal in NYC.
Bankruptcy court hearings regarding the case have been repeatedly postponed by Madison since the AG and the DHCR's Tenant Protection Unit publicized through its filings that the ongoing investigation of Toledano had been expanded to include Madison.
On Monday morning in Midtown, Santa Claus himself made an appearance. He had a special gift for the principals of Madison: Gift-wrapped little sacks of coal. Bellowing loud enough to (possibly) be heard on the 37th floor, he pronounced that the company had been naughty.
