Tenants in Illegal Condo Conversion Awarded Free Rent for Two Years

The New York Times recently featured tenants, including Magid, in an article covering "the hardships they and others faced during conversions." And now, in a move that should have developers paying close and careful attention, "state prosecutors have ordered that rents be waived for 11 residents of a building on the Upper West Side… for having to put up with dusty, noisy and potentially unsafe conditions."

It gets better. The New York Times reports: "In addition, the landlord, Newcastle Realty Services, must pay more than $1.5 million in fines and legal fees for illegally inducing tenants to leave the 1886 building through buyout agreements." State Assemblywoman Linda B. Rosenthal, who represents the area, organized a letter-writing campaign to the attorney general about conditions at The Evelyn. The tenants believe her efforts were instrumental in getting the attorney general to halt construction at the building in January.

As for Newcastle Realty Services, it seems to be abandoning ship. According a spokesperson for the project, reports The Times, the development team, whose president is Margaret Streicker Porres, "plans to sell its position in 101 West 78th Street to funds managed by GTIS."

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