The Kushner Companies meet the neighborhood

Last night, reps from the Kushner Companies — owners now of half the East Village — met with residents and Community Board 3 members during a Land Use, Zoning, Public & Private Housing Committee meeting.

We did not attend, but the consensus from people we spoke with later seemed to be: waste of time.

Per Jill: "That meeting was bullshit."

Per Rob: "Well, we did learn that they intend to construct extensions on their buildings."

We heard the reps were very nice — and very media-trained, offering robotic soundbites from the Meet The Community Playbook.

BoweryBoogie was there. Per BB:

It didn’t go over too well. Not with residents. Not with the Land Use subcommittee of Community Board 3. The Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director of real estate development represented the company, extending an olive branch, as it were, and pitching their intentions. Namely to create a “responsive, welcoming, and secure community” and to operate the buildings with “the same high standard.”

On Monday, residents of a now-Kushner-owned building shared stories of not having heat or hot water on a regular basis, structural damage and an unlocked front door, which reportedly led to a break-in.

Anyone else attend last night's meeting? Hit us up in the comments with your thoughts. Of the meeting.

[Photo via BoweryBoogie]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Jared Kushner paid $49 million for 7 more Ben Shaoul-owned properties in the East Village

More about Jared Kushner's East Village buying spree

Soon, we will all be writing our rent checks to Jared Kushner

Report: Jared Kushner closes on latest batch of East Village walkups

Jared Kushner picks up 2 more East Village apartment buildings

[EVG file photo of 438 E. 13th St. from November 2012]

Jared Kushner's Kushner Companies has expanded its East Village portfolio.

According to Lois Weiss at the Post, Kushner has closed on a 16-building apartment portfolio for $131.5 million. Two of the properties are in the East Village — 104 E. Seventh St. and 438-440 E. 13th St.

Stone Street and Florida-based HIG Realty Partners were the sellers. Stone Street bought the EV properties in November 2012.

We heard from a resident at No. 438 this past April who let us know what life has been like here since Stone Street took over the building. First, the resident says that many longtime tenants were driven out of their units … "and we had to deal with a round of apartment gut renovations last year."

And!

"I have lived in the East Village for [20-plus] years and have never dealt with such disregard for tenants," the resident said. "Even the tenants who moved into the renovated 'luxury' units are being screwed."

Not that Kushner will be a much better landlord. The Kushner Companies have not been very popular around here with all the allegations and subsequent media reports of tenant harassment and quality-of-life issues brought on by gut renovations in their buildings.

The Kushner Companies have bought up 28-29 or so East Village walk-up buildings in the past two years.

Previously on EV Grieve:
2 East Village buildings part of $73 million deal

Life at 438 E. 13th St.

Reader report: East Village tenants taking Kushner Companies to housing court

[March 27]

Several residents of one of the walkups that the Kushner Companies purchased earlier this year submitted the following post...

The Kushner Companies officially took over control of the 17 buildings on the LES that Ben Shaoul owned for 3-plus years. For the 2 months that followed the change of ownership, Jared Kushner's company failed to provide basic services like heat, hot water and a locked front door. The tenants filed an HP Action against Kushner and are taking him to Housing Court this week.

In the past 2-3 months under new ownership, the daily lives of the tenants in the building have been a living hell. Clearly, their focus is on getting the $35,000/month 7-11 in on the ground floor without a care for the well-being of the tenants.

The issues in the HP Action include:

1. No Heat/Hot Water: No heat & hot water on a regular basis, even during the coldest weeks of winter when the outside temp was 16F. The culmination of which was a month ago when it was 25F outside and the tenants in the building repeatedly called the building manager and the super, who ignored the requests from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon. Temps inside fell below 45F and the tenants who stayed were sleeping fully clothed with jackets on. In addition to the heat being off completely, the boiler is now on a timer so the heat came on only twice per day leaving the building cold (below the legally mandated inside temperature) and the hot water being lukewarm at best.

2. Malfunctioning Heating System: terrible clanking of the pipes when the heat goes on, which makes sleeping through the night impossible. There were tenants who stayed with friends and relatives b/c even with ear plugs, they couldn’t fall asleep and stay asleep through the night.

3. Cracked Walls/Structural Damage: cracks in the walls of apartments on ever floor due to shoddy contractor work in the soon-to-be 7-11 space in the first floor. The company has since fired the contractors and the work has no resumed because of the HP Action.




4. Unlocked Main Entrance: front door electric key system failing randomly with no apparent reason from 1 day to 7 days locking tenants outside or inside of the building and leaving the building unsafe with the front door unlocked at all times. Tenants had to call 911 and have the NYPD come on Tuesday night several weeks back as the front door was wide open and a man was trying to get into apartments at 3:30 AM.

5. Smoke Detector Removal: the contractors disconnected and removed smoke detectors in the hallways as the dust was setting them off saying they had it approved by the FDNY so it’s perfectly legal.



6. Low Water Pressure: extremely low water pressure in faucets and showers throughout the building.

7. Illegal After Hours Work: Contractors working after hours (8 AM on Saturday), blocking hallways, blocking doorways and doing work that created so much dust and debris that DOB ordered that they cover apartment doors to protect residents.



8. Unavailable Super: super has rarely been available to solve maintenance problems (they only hired 1 super for 17 buildings and he doesn’t live in Manhattan), and never available after 4 PM or on the weekends. Emergency contact provided did not work.

9. Filthy Hallways/Entrance: hallways and entrance have not been cleaned on a regular basis in months. The stairwells of the building are disgusting.

The residents said that there were discussions of a rent abatement, but that never materialized.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Jared Kushner paid $49 million for 7 more Ben Shaoul-owned properties in the East Village

More about Jared Kushner's East Village buying spree

Report: Residents of Kushner-owned 118 E. 4th St. learn building had 10X legal levels of lead

[Image via Streeteasy]

The following report was released last week via the Cooper Square Committee and the Lead Dust Free New York City coalition.

Tenants of 118 E. Fourth St. recently received notice that work crews hired by Jared Kushner’s Westminster City Living contaminated their building with lead-laden construction dust. The contamination was the result of unchecked dust from demolition work being performed in the building.

A report issued by New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene from November shows elevated levels of lead in four of the five samples collected in the building. The sample with the highest level was nearly 10X (383 µg/ft2) the acceptable standards prescribed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for floors/treads of 39 µg/ft2.

In the fall of 2015, tenants of 118 E. Fourth St. endured bouts of no heat, mounting trash, and a longstanding cooking gas outage. The tenants then filed an HP Action in January 2016 for repairs and services to be restored. A motion was also filed in court to hold Westminster in contempt of court due to the lack of restoration of services.

Tenants of 118 E. Fourth St. and the Lead Dust Free NYC coalition are now calling the unsafe conditions to be remedied immediately and for safe work practices to be put in place for all work being performed. Tenants, advocates and elected officials are calling on the City to improve enforcement around lead and to increase penalties for landlords who contaminate buildings.

Many provisions with NYC’s lead laws, Local Law 1 of 2004, are not being utilized by the City. A City Council hearing in September of this year called to attention major deficits within the enforcement and regulations surrounding Local Law 1.

"I was in my apartment on a day when they began demolition. A dust cloud invaded my entire apartment from the demolition happening in the apartment below me. I felt a burning in back of my throat along with feeling of grit. I decided to leave for my own safety," said David Dupuis, a tenant of No. 118 for 35 years. "When I returned in the evening, the halls and everything in my apartment was completely covered in dust. The burning sensation at the back of my throat lasted for days."

You can find the full release, including comments from elected local officials, as well as the health department's report from November, at this link.

In an article on the report for The Villager, a spokesperson for the Kushner Companies said: "As soon as we were alerted to the condition, we instructed the contractor responsible to immediately clean the public areas and to implement stricter measures to prevent construction dust or debris from escaping the work area. Kushner always uses a lead-certified contractor who fully complies with the law."

Kushner bought the buildings during his East Village land grab in February 2013.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Local politicos join residents of 2 Jared Kushner-owned buildings to speak out about poor living conditions, alleged harassment

Jared Kushner's residents at 118 E. 4th St. would like gas for cooking and some heat

Get the lead out: Tenants call for protections from lead dust during renovations

Tenant activists praise lead reform, urge for more protections from city against predatory landlords

Soon, we will all be writing our rent checks to Jared Kushner

Jared Kushner isn't done yet shopping for buildings in the East Village. The Post reports today that the Kushner Companies, a major residential and commercial landlord, is in contract for two deals with Icon Realty Management's Terrence Lowenberg and Todd Cohen on a $28.8 million portfolio of 55 apartment and five retail properties.

The deal features 325 E. 10th St. ... as well as 329, 331, 333 and 335 E. 9th St.

The recently renovated 325 E. 10th St. was previously part of the Hotel Toshi empire, the short-term apartment rental network in New York City. Last fall, the city OK'd additions to 329-335 E. 9th St.

As previously reported, Kushner bought 17 buildings with 267 apartments and 23 stores for $128 million. Plus! He is also in contract for a $49 million, six-building package from Magnum Real Estate/Meadow Partners.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Jared Kushner paid $49 million for 7 more Ben Shaoul-owned properties in the East Village

Rumors: Is Ben Shaoul selling his East Village properties?

More about Jared Kushner's East Village buying spree

Hotel Toshi takes over 325 E. 10th St.

When Hotel Toshi took over an East Village building

Report: Jared Kushner closes on latest batch of East Village walkups

The Kushner Companies have closed on its latest parcel of East Village buildings, Real Estate Weekly reported today. This was the $28.75 million deal for 329-335 E. Ninth Street and 325 E. 10th St., previously owned by Icon Realty.

If our counting is correct, then this makes 28 (29?) East Village buildings that Jared Kushner and his comapny have purchased this year.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Jared Kushner paid $49 million for 7 more Ben Shaoul-owned properties in the East Village

More about Jared Kushner's East Village buying spree

Hotel Toshi takes over 325 E. 10th St.

Soon, we will all be writing our rent checks to Jared Kushner

Reports: Kushner sells 6-building East Village portfolio for $57 million

Kushner Companies reportedly sold a six-building portfolio in the East Village for $57 million. 

According to the @TradedNY account, which first reported on the deal on Dec. 28, the buildings are 118-120 E. Fourth St., 199-203 E. Fourth St., and 315 E. 10th St. 

The buyers: a limited liability company affiliated with David Gleitman's Targo Capital Partners. 

According to The Real Deal, Kushner purchased the properties in 2013 for $51.6 million. 

At one point, Kushner Cos. was the second-largest owner of East Village residential buildings, trailing only perennial landlord of the year candidate Steve Croman. 

However, as TRD noted, "when Jared Kushner departed for the White House in 2017, the firm started moving to offload some of its New York holdings." 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Jared Kushner's residents at 118 E. 4th St. would like gas for cooking and some heat

File photo of 118 E. Fourth St.

[Updated] Jared Kushner apparently didn't pay the ConEd bill on 9th Street

ConEd has placed turn-off notices on the front doors at 329-335 E. Ninth St., the buildings operated by the Jared Kushner-owned Kushner Companies here between First Avenue and Second Avenue.


[Click image for larger view]

At No. 329, the notice states that "because KUSHNER VILLAGE 329 has not paid past due bills for $700.47 and a $525 security deposit... we will have to turn off service unless we receive payment by January 4, 2017."

As previously noted, only Steve Croman owns more residential buildings in the East Village than Jared Kushner does. Kushner, 35, who is married to President-elect Donald Trump’s elder daughter, Ivanka, reportedly may have some kind of role in the new administration.

Photos by Steven

Updated 12-13

DNAinfo has more on the story here ... including:

A representative of Westminster Management said the company was in the midst of transitioning the management of utility payments to a different company, likely causing a delay in payments, and added that the bill had been paid on Monday.

Jared Kushner's residents at 118 E. 4th St. would like gas for cooking and some heat

[Image via Streeteasy]

Via the EVG inbox...

Tenants of 118 East 4th Street in the East Village appear back in Manhattan Housing Court on Thursday March 3rd at 9:30 AM as part of ongoing litigation against their landlord, Jared Kushner. Tenants are calling for the immediate restoration of essential services and for living conditions to be rectified.

The tenants have recently endured bouts of no heat, mounding trash, and have been without cooking gas since October 2015. Con Ed shut down all gas for the building and Jared Kushner has yet to take the necessary procedures with the city to restore it. This comes on top of the landlord’s failure to repair a multitude of potentially dangerous conditions in the building, including:

• No cooking gas
• Collapsed ceilings
• Questionably safe electrical systems
• Mounding trash
• Deprivation of heat
• Apartments entered without notice
• Blocked mail delivery
• Vermin

The tenants filed an HP Action for repairs and services in January to seek a remedy for these unsafe conditions. The landlord received a default judgement at the first court appearance on February 4th as Kushner failed to appear in court to address matters – a sign the tenants interpret as further disregard for the issues they face. At the time of a previous court appearance, the building had a total of 17 open violations with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, including 4 considered “immediately hazardous.” The current violation count is now 35 in total with 8 class “C” immediately hazardous violations. A motion was recently filed in court to hold Kushner in contempt of court due to the lack of restoration of services.

You can read the whole notice at the Cooper Square Committee website. The news advisory includes quotes from Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer, State Sen. Brad Hoylman and Councilwoman Rosie Mendez.

It hasn't been easy at 118-120 E. Fourth St. through the years. Ben Shaoul's Magnum Management, in partnership with Meadow Partners, bought the buildings in late 2010. Fortune East LLC reportedly managed the buildings. The blog Occupy East Fourth Street had been documenting renovation horror stories. (Like this one.)

Kushner bought the buildings during his East Village land grab in February 2013.

Occupy East Fourth Street continues documenting the situation inside No. 118. Here's a post from Feb. 14:

Woke up this morning to 7 degrees, its now 14 degrees outside, and no heat at 118 East St. Through some communications with the other tenants, it seems the heat is on in one line of the building. That line contains the market rate tenants. There are 2 other heat lines that are off and those lines contain the majority of rent stabilized tenants, including some senior citizens in fragile health. I think one or two market rate folks are getting the frozen treatment if they are unfortunate enough to reside above or below a rent stabilized tenant. Calls to the Westminster office provide no results as usual. There seems to be a Westminster person living in 118 at the moment. A call put into him goes unanswered and he has no voice mail set up on his phone. The same goes for the "Super". No answer. No voice mail set up on phone.

Report: These 9th Street tenants don't have to pay rent until building has C/O, judge rules

[Photo by Steven]

ICYMI: Tenants at 331 E. Ninth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue will not have to pay rent until their landlord, Kushner Companies, secures a certificate of occupancy for the building.

Details via The Real Deal:

Residents of the building at 331 East 9th Street will also be allowed to stay in their apartments without paying any back rent, according to the decision that State Supreme Court Judge Frances Ortiz handed down ...

The nine-unit East Village property is one of several that Housing Rights Initiative and Bronx Councilmember Ritchie Torres announced Kushner was operating illegally at a press conference last March.

The property was built around 1900, meaning it was exempted from the city’s certificate of occupancy requirement, according to HRI. However, after buying the building in 2013 for $20.25 million, Kushner Companies added a floor to build luxury penthouses, a substantial alteration that meant the property would now require a certificate of occupancy, HRI said.

Ortiz agreed with this in his ruling, writing that “the addition of an entire floor on the top of the building constitutes a substantial alteration, thereby requiring petitioners to obtain a C of O for the entire building.” He added that “no rent is collectible by the petitioner [Kushner] when a building lacks a valid certificate of occupancy.”

The real estate company never received a permanent certificate of occupancy because of building code violations, according to HRI. The housing watchdog group helped the building’s tenants organize and refuse to pay rent.

Kushner Cos. COO Peter Febo said the the judge's ruling was wrong. They plan on appealing once courts reopen after the coronavirus crisis.

The Kushners started buying up East Village buildings in early 2013.

Trash talk on 7th Street

Someone has made homemade signs pointing out who is managing the buildings on Seventh Street between Avenue A and First Avenue where the trash routinely overflows on the sidewalk...



The signs are in front of buildings owned by the Kushner Companies and managed by its subsidiary Westminster, per a tipster on the block... (they note "A Kushner Production")









Per the tipster: "They refuse to hire a super on Sundays to prevent this mess every week. And the fine from sanitation is less than what they’d pay him anyway. Saving money by trashing the hood."

Last March, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Kushner Companies, formerly led by current White House adviser Jared Kushner, planned to sell five of the 30-plus buildings in their East Village portfolio.

The company was also accused of illegally operating nine apartment buildings in the East Village and Williamsburg, according to an investigation by City Council member Ritchie Torres and the watchdog group Housing Rights Initiative. A DOB spokesperson told the Associated Press that the issues stemmed from "paperwork lapses" and characterized the investigation as "pure grandstanding."

'Most uses considered' for 3 retail spaces at Kushner's 170 E. 2nd St.

The retail spaces are now on the market over at 170-174 E. Second St., where landlord Jared Kushner has reportedly been using aggressive tactics to rid the buildings of rent-stabilized tenants.



Here's more info about the spaces between Avenue A and Avenue B via the RKF listing:

SPACE
Ground Floor
Space A — 250 SF
Space B — 500 SF
Space C — 500 SF

SITE STATUS
Formerly multiple tenants

NEIGHBORS
Black Iron Burger Shop, Duane Reade, Il Bagatto, Jane’s Exchange, Snack Dragon, Supper, Two Boots, Waffles and Dinges [sic]

COMMENTS
Most uses considered
Natural light throughout
Situated in one of New York City’s fastest growing neighborhoods
Potential basement space
In close proximity to the F subway lines

There isn't any mention of the asking rent, just "negotiable."

And this is a curious selection of neighbors. Black Iron is three blocks away on East Fifth Street and Snack Dragon is closing this week. And Il Bagatto is now delivery only.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Inside a classic East Village tenement before the whole building is renovated

Two East 2nd St. buildings sell for $17.5 million; will new owner still honor Allen Ginsburg?

Tenants claim: Kushner and Westminster want to destroy this building's beautiful garden

Reports outline how Kushner Companies is aggressively trying to empty 170-174 E. 2nd St.

'Out of Shaoul’s frying pan and into Kushner’s fire?' Super Tenants Association meeting planned

From the EV Grieve inbox...

Out of Shaoul’s Frying Pan and into Kushner’s Fire?

Are you or do you know someone who lives in one of the buildings that Ben Shaoul just sold to Jared Kushner? The tenants association of 118/120 East 4th Street is looking to get together with other tenants in the same parcel of buildings for a Super Tenants Association Meeting. The idea is to get together, talk about our past experiences, what we may have to look out for in the future and how to establish a network for support and information sharing.

Please email the organizers here

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Jared Kushner paid $49 million for 7 more Ben Shaoul-owned properties in the East Village

Ben Shaoul and company put East Fourth Street buildings on the market for $25 million

4 East Fourth Street apartment buildings hit market for $32 million

Rumors: Is Ben Shaoul selling his East Village properties?

Tenants claim: Kushner and Westminster want to destroy this building's beautiful garden

We've been keeping an eye on the renovations at 170-174 E. Second St., two walk-ups that Jared Kushner picked up earlier this year for his East Village collection.

There has been a lot of drama here — gut renovations, tenants taking buyouts, tenants not taking buyouts. We'll address some of this in another post.

A more pressing matter at the moment: The impending destruction of the garden behind No. 174.

"It was built by tenants, is maintained by tenants, and we love it very much," one tenant told us.

Tenants say that Westminster Management, a division of Kushner Companies, is expected to gut the garden this week. Remaining tenants say that they have taken legal action, but Westminster might be moving too fast for the group to stop them.









Said a resident:

"To destroy the garden would be of no benefit to Westminster, and to the tenants it would be a tragedy. Our garden is not just a decorative tableau, but a part of our daily lives: during the day, it is a place to do our professional work, and to make use of the carefully constructed space dedicated to meditation. In the evenings, it has long been a place for neighbors to meet one another. We reject the notion that a community garden is not a valuable resource. In fact, we believe that it is this use of our garden — as a place to foster community — which is the reason why it has been targeted."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Inside a classic East Village tenement before the whole building is renovated

Jared Kushner not done buying every walk-up in the East Village

Two East 2nd St. buildings sell for $17.5 million; will new owner still honor Allen Ginsburg?

New state legislation aims to combat predatory equity

Local elected officials introduced joint legislation on Sunday targeting the practice of predatory equity.

State Sen. Brad Hoylman, Assemblymember Harvey Epstein and various tenants and advocates were present at a press conference outside the office of Westminster Management, a Kushner Companies subsidiary, on 12th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B. There, they discussed the legislation, which directs the New York State Department of Finanical Services (DFS) to collect data on financial institutions that lend to property owners with the intent to displace current tenants.

Per the announcement:

Specifically, the bill requires DFS to investigate the role financial institutions play in encouraging anti-tenant practices by notorious landlords like Jared Kushner, Steve Croman and Raphael Toledano.

Similar to the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008, lax underwriting standards and a general lack of transparency have allowed speculators and real estate agents to secure outsized mortgages with very little discretion and oversight. Owners use these loans to make purchases based on unrealistic projections of rising rents, and in turn have difficulty paying the mortgages.

Building owners — anxious to recoup on their hefty investments — often resort to abusive and exploitative tactics to drive rent-regulated tenants out. These abusive practices, known as predatory equity, are best-exemplified by figures like Steve Croman and Jared Kushner.

In the fall of 2015, after the Daily News reported that the state was investigating Toledano for tenant harassment at 444 E. 13th St., he received two loans totaling $124 million from private equity firm Madison Realty Capital to buy and renovate a 16-building East Village portfolio.

Per The Real Deal in an article last July:

The leverage on the deal — which clocked in at 128 percent compared to the typical 50 to 65 percent on a New York City multifamily deal — raises questions about how culpable lenders are in perpetuating harassment. In short, are they turning a blind eye when their borrowers too-aggressively push to turn rent-stabilized apartments into luxury units?

Pressured to generate income from the buildings to pay off his loans, Toledano reportedly attempted widespread buyouts. And many of the tenants at the buildings accused him of harassment.

"No longer can we allow landlords like Kushner, Croman and Toledano to force our neighbors out of their homes in order to make a quick buck," Hoylman said in a statement. "We demand that New York State investigate the practice of predatory equity so we can take the necessary steps to protect rent regulated tenants from harassment and eviction."



Said the recently elected Epstein: "This legislation will bring us closer to stopping the practice of predatory equity before it starts the cycle of tenant harassment and displacement that has become all too familiar in our city. Bad actor landlords and scheming financiers should take note: your days of destabilizing our neighborhoods with your shady business practices are numbered."

Croman was released from jail on Friday after serving eight months of a year-long sentence for fraud.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Raphael Toledano files for Chapter 11; $145 million deal for EV portfolio is off the table

Raphael Toledano tenants take to Midtown streets to speak out against their landlord and his lenders

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.

A barber shop is coming soon to East 2nd Street

The signage recently arrived here at 174 E. Second St. between Avenue A and Avenue B… in one of the long-empty storefronts. Don't have any info about the place at the moment. The sign reads "Cut. Shave. Care."

This is the first retail tenant to take a space here since Jared Kushner bought 170-174 E. Second St. in December 2013.

Previously on EV Grieve:
'Most uses considered' for 3 retail spaces at Kushner's 170 E. 2nd St.

Residents continue to speak out about living conditions in Jared Kushner's 170-174 E. 2nd St.

This bites: Flame Job leaves East Second Street storefront

Flame Job, longtime designers of custom-made fangs and gothic goods at 170 E. Second St., closed up shop for good at the end of February. There was talk of a new shop on the Lower East Side, but that hasn't materialized just yet…



They are still around, though, for custom fangs and leather, if the need beckons…check out their Facebook page for contact info.

As for this address between Avenue A and Avenue B, Jared Kushner of the Kushner Companies paid $17.5 million for 170-174 E. Second St. back in December.

As of now, we don't know why Flame Job closed, so we need to hold off on our "Bloodsucking landlord boots custom fang makers" headline.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Inside a classic East Village tenement before the whole building is renovated

Jared Kushner not done buying every walk-up in the East Village

More about last week's 17-building deal

On Friday afternoon, The Real Deal first reported that developer (and New York Observer publisher) Jared Kushner closed on a portfolio of 17 walk-up apartment buildings in the East Village for some $130 million.

There were slightly different accounts of the addresses in the article in The Real Deal and the Post.

The Real Deal:

201 East 2nd Street, 23 Avenue A, 129 First Avenue, 143 First Avenue, 338-340 East 11th Street, 165-167 Avenue A, 500 East 11th Street, 504 East 12th Street, 191-193 Avenue A, 435 East 12th Street, 516 East 13th Street, 211 Avenue A and 49 and 1/2 First Avenue.

The Post:

165-167 Ave. A, 129 1st Ave., 143 1st Ave., 191-193 Ave. A, 201 East 2nd, 211 Ave. A, 23 Ave. A, 338-340 E. 11th St., 435 E. 12th St., 500 E. 11th St., 504-508 E. 12th St. and 516-518 E. 13th St.

Can any residents of 49 1/2 confirm that their building was part of the sale?

In any event, Kushner's affiliate, Westminster Management, has taken over the, uh, management of the buildings.

Per the Westminster website:

Westminster Management, a division of Kushner Companies, is a diversified real estate organization headquartered in New York City with regional offices in New Jersey, Maryland and Ohio. Our company is responsible for the ownership, management, development and redevelopment of countless properties. Our national reach consists of more than 15,000 multifamily apartments and we plan to continue to make acquisitions as the market presents opportunities.

One resident sent along this note that was slipped under his or her door on Friday...

And said another building resident:

The first communication from them is promising. PVE wouldn't even give out an address, so now we have a landlord with a name, address and an Internet portal, which is 3 more things than we had before.

Ben Shaoul's Magnum Real Estate (Westbrook Partners, Meadow Partners, PVE Associates and Fortune East LLC, et al) reportedly previously managed the the properties.

One possibly interesting development: The deal included 500 E. 11th Street, site of the incoming 7-Eleven... the one that apparently no one wants... and whose opposition has received global news coverage...

Have other tips or photos about the situation here? Please send them our way via the EV Grieve email

Report: Jared Kushner paid $49 million for 7 more Ben Shaoul-owned properties in the East Village

[118, 120 E. 4th St. via Massey Knakal]

Jared Kushner's East Village shopping spree continues. Last week, the developer (and New York Observer publisher) closed on a portfolio of 17 walk-up apartment buildings in the East Village for some $130 million, as The Real Deal first reported.

This afternoon, The Real Deal is reporting that Kushner bought seven more walk-up rental buildings for $49 million from developer Ben Shaoul's Magnum Real Estate and Meadow Partners.

The addresses: 118, 120-122, 195, 199, 201 and 203 East 4th Street.

Shaoul's renovations of 118 and 120 E. 4th Street prompted the start of the blog Occupy East 4th Street.

According to The Real Deal, Shaoul paid a combined total of $25.1 million for these seven properties in 2010 and 2011.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Ben Shaoul and company put East Fourth Street buildings on the market for $25 million

4 East Fourth Street apartment buildings hit market for $32 million

Rumors: Is Ben Shaoul selling his East Village properties?