Wealthy Couple Sued For Installing Ikea Kitchen

A wealthy Icelandic couple is being sued for installing a cheap Ikea kitchen in their Gramercy Park Hotel pad. According to the Daily News, Jon Asgeir Johannesson and Ingibjorg Palmadottir own two apartments in the building, a full-floor co-op and the duplex penthouse above it. The duo rented out the 16th floor to the Paramount Realty Group last year, and now that group is suing them for $52,000, in part because of the "ugly kitchen."

The suit claims that the kitchen "was not reasonably satisfactory... as it did not rise to the level of a kitchen suitable for a property located at 50 Gramercy Park North. The kitchen has also been a source of embarrassment for Plaintiff and the subject of remarks by guests." Rich people!

On top of the design faux pas, the suit also claims the unit had faulty air conditioning, a cracked window and missing appliances... as well as chewed up chicken wings on the 2,000-square-foot terrace! Allegedly they were being tossed there by the couple themselves, who reside above.

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By Jen Carlson in News on February 24, 2010 3:40 PM

Comments [rss]

theLtrain

Dude. Good for that building. Ikea makes cheap shitty furniture. If you're wealthy enough to own an apartment in that building that you're RENTING out. You shouldn't be allowed to furnish it with ikea.

Telephone 280

We really are living in the Bizarro World, aren't we?

woodendesigner

Bitchy rich people doing bitchy rich people things. Is this for real?

invisibleman

jesus christ i love chicken wings

JenChungsBaby

As if they were cooking anything in the kitchen anyway.

pissflaps

if you can't take the heat, get outta the kitchen.

Papercutninja

2 THOUSAND square foot terrace? Christ.

NannyState

I blame 50 Gramercy Park for not screening out these filthy IKEA fetishists in the first place.

ProcedureTurn

I cant even afford a nice prefab Ikea kitchen. Geez. You shoyuld see MY existing kitchen. Be glad yours is from Ikea

trady

lol, this is why I love Gothamist. always good for a laugh! thanks!

Chillinoncentral

I've seen bad kitchens... this is not a bad kitchen. It's actually very nice; what the heck do they want?

surroundsound

@Chillinoncentral I'm like 85% sure the photo is a photo of the Ikea catalog, not the kitchen.

nicemarmot

Umm...aren't these the sorts of things you're supposed to deal with right when you start using a rental?

longacre

Why did the renters take it in the first place if it was such a dump?

Thespis

I wondered the same thing. My best guess is that they rented it with an agreement that it would be renovated before the lease began -- and that the issue is whether the renovations complied with the terms (or possibly spirit) of the agreement.