Gothamist: Most East Village Tenement Tenants Settle for $75K

west side Michael

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:07:42 -0500

Without rent controls you would have no one to help you in this city with ANYTHING. The rich don't have to work and they ain't gonna deliver your goods to the stores. I love my 6 room apt. for $750.a month. Druel you mortgaged up to the wazoo about to be unemployeds. While you were bust playing yo electronic games this President was killing the banking system. These tenants sold out their RIGHTS TO POSSESSION of their apartments for next to nothing by the way. Must have had a lousy attorney.

blablanyc

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 21:50:03 -0500

The $75,000 the tenants received to leave is baloney. The tenants should have received enough money so that they could afford a comparable apartment in the same area. What will $75k get them in the LES? Nada. Who negotiated the tenant's deal? They've gotten screwed. Mostly because they were rent stabilized. When you are rent stabilized, you are their for life. When a tenant is required to leave their residence in the name of eminent domain, the tenants is paired with a comparable apartment in the same area. Or at least the city would try to get them one. That should have been the case with these tenants. These tenants should have to leave the neighborhood they have been living in for decades.

NannyState

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:41:38 -0500

^ The seller clearly wanted a check, not a process.

nycgurl

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:06:46 -0500

Did anyone approach the 15 tenants allowing them to buy the $900K bldg? With an average price apt $60K-about $375/mo mortgage, that is stabilization and cheaper than rent. Instead they get 4yrs+ of $1500/mo rent in NYC. Clearly this guy got a major deal. Rent stabilization is about balancing so much unfairness of things.

HUGO_MEGO

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 13:47:08 -0500

Why would anyone want to live in the East Village? It is the worst part of Manhattan. Overrun with hipsters and lefties who believe they are entitled to everything.

whitecastlerock

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 13:36:07 -0500

Why don't the displaced tenants move to Houston then? They have some cash in their pockets now...

NannyState

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 13:29:03 -0500

$900,000 for what could be a $15 million building plus the nearly $1 million in payouts to the tennants equals a vey shrewd bit of dealing. Fortunately, there aren't many of these Ekonomakises around or Manhattan would be uninhabitable.

belated

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 13:29:02 -0500

Rent stabilization shouldn't even exist. No one has the "right" to live in a particular area. If you can't afford it, MOVE. There are plenty of other places in the city, state, country that are more affordable than Manhattan. Just as there are plenty of people who bust their ass to EARN their means to live in the city. And by earn, I mean earn money. THAT'S what it takes to live here. These tenets should not be complaining- they are getting $75K for what?! What the hell do they deserve to get that settlement for? For having underpaid in rent for god knows how many years? Seriously, the money they saved in rent: THAT in itself is "settlement" money.

thefacts

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:32:23 -0500

Anyone who is bitter over rent stabilization or control is either a greedy landlord or some jealous person foolish enough to pay market rent. If you don't like paying market rent, then buy your own place, like I did. Put up or shut up. Don't worry. With the Dems in control in Albany and NYC always having a Dem majority, RS/RC is never going away. Get used to it. If any of the haters don't like it, there is always Houston to move to.

Qraymond

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:13:52 -0500

If you are too stupid to understand the value of Rent Stabilization, I cannot help you.

tinybanquet

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:13:03 -0500

Supreme Court in NY is a trial court (i.e., fairly low-level). The Court of Appeals is the highest court in the state.

r1b2

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:53:54 -0500

Rent control is a farce. Why should anyone have the right to a better quality of life in NYC because of some archaic ruling? Why should you get to be an artist because you don't have to worry about rent the way the next person does? Bullsh*t. Pay your way or move on.

JacqueMehoff

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:40:54 -0500

he can go eff himself. I hope his children are healthy. we got a new sheriff in town now. but that new sheriff will still take care of his rich children if they are sick.

whitecastlerock

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:16:12 -0500

He legally purchased the building. Whether or not he wants to live there or not isn't anyone's business. The tenants held out. As a result of this payout they have lived rent free in Manhattan for years. So what is the moral of the story? Work really hard to have enough money to buy something and be called a parasite for doing so? That is outrageous to me...

TKaisen

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:06:40 -0500

The tenants questioned whether Economakis would really live in the building, suspecting he would rent it out at market rates or flip it for millions, In a place that he bought and legally owns? The HORROR.

Qraymond

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:02:15 -0500

My heart goes out to the tenants. The Economakis family is not welcome in our community.

matty

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:51:41 -0500

2 Million wouldn't get you an apartment building in Chicago much less manhattan. This guy played the system and won.

Peter

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:50:44 -0500

Rent control is a sick joke and should have been abolished decades ago.

Politburo

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:42:18 -0500

Well, $1.6 million after buying out the tenants, plus whatever he paid to the 7 tenants who already accepted money, plus legal fees.

Jen Chung

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:41:34 -0500

I think that's why there's outrage-- the building was $900K because there were rent-stabilized tenants. If the Economakises bought any other building for their own personal conversion, it'd probably would have cost them a lot more.

QM

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:37:54 -0500

900,000?! For an entire building in Manhattan? god thats cheap.