$4.5M Lawsuit Over UWS Neighbor's Backyard Hotel, Fence

Jeffrey and Michelle Feig's charming Central Park West apartment has gone from urban oasis to noisy nightmare, and someone's got to pay. In a $4.5 million lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, the Feigs accuse the neighbor, Michel Kadoe, of turning his backyard into a "shantytown," by renting out the garden apartment in his brownstone to unruly tourists.

The Feigs are also upset because Kadoe put up a fence blocking their nice view of other neighbors' backyards. Their lawyer calls it "an F-U fence," and Michelle Feig tells the Post, "I walk through my apartment 900 times a day and pass the window and fence 900 times a day. I feel victimized in my own home." But Michel Kadoe counters, "This is not a fence—this is a 4-foot screen so I can have some privacy in my life."

He also denies running a hotel, but the apartment is listed on this website as a "vacation apartment rental" with one bedroom that sleeps six, and another vacation website features a glowing testimonial from "five crazy Canadian girls [who] were tickled pink with the accommodations." It's illegal for property owners to use residential units as hotels, and in January one TV news show stalked an illegal hotel owner on the UWS—so Kadoe should definitely be on the lookout for Fox 5's John Deutzman!