Morning Bulletin: Fallen Tree Inspires $200 Million Lawsuit, Controversial Building Sold, A Rugby Player’s Punch
Photo by s_bot.
March 5, 2018 Weather: Cloudy, with a high of 44 degrees.
Notices:
“Concerts for Compassion” and more local events this week are on our calendar.
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News:
The mom hit by a tree in Central Park last summer filed a $200 million lawsuit against the city and Central Park Conservancy. “Anne Monoky’s suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court against the city, Central Park Conservancy and companies that maintain the trees says she will have ‘paralysis threatening injuries’ for the rest of her life.”
Stonehenge Village, a group of rental properties in the West 90’s that caused controversy when it wouldn’t let rent-stabilized tenants use a new gym, has been sold. “A&E Real Estate Holdings is acquiring a trio of rental buildings on the Upper West Side for at least $180 million. The Stonehenge Village complex — one on West 96th Street and two on West 97th Street — contain about 420 apartments overall, and A&E bought them from a joint-partnership of Ivanhoe Cambridge, SL Green Realty and Stonehenge Partners, according to Crain’s.” The owners eventually relented and let the stabilized tenants use the gym for a fee.
Footage has emerged of an Australian rugby player punching an Upper West Side man during a drunken “rampage” in 2015. The player, Matthew Lodge, is set to start playing again this week. “It’s pretty heartbreaking to think that this man might become a role model for Australian children given what he did to us,” said Fowler, whose son Henry cowered in a bathroom as Lodge destroyed their Upper West Side unit in the early hours of October 16, 2015.”
Marina Krim testified at the trial of the nanny accused of killing two of her children. “Under cross-examination by Ms. Ortega’s lawyer, Ms. Krim said on Friday that Ms. Ortega had been acting strangely in the months before the killing on Oct. 25, 2012. But Ms. Krim said she had attributed the behavior to Ms. Ortega’s struggling with providing for her own son.”
A rarity on the Upper West side these days: “Rockwood Capital and Thor Equities are selling an Upper West Side building they co-own for a loss. The pair, which purchased the 70-unit rental building at 838 West End Ave., on the corner of West 101st Street, four years ago for $67 million, are unloading the property to Emerald Equity Group for about $65 million.”
They may have overestimated their ability to push rent-stabilized tenants out. If you look on StreetEasy, they’ve barely rented any units at all in the last two years.
Call me cruel and callous, but I think a $200 million lawsuit for a freak accident is pretty excessive. I understand this woman sustained life altering injuries but at what point do we accept the risk associated with living outside of a protected bubble? I can see suing for medical costs and even pain and suffering, but to place a $200 million burden on a city that already struggles to take care of itself and its residents, well that borders on disgusting.
Well said.
well said bettercallsaul
UWS apartments are now a hypermarket: 420 apartments sold in one clip, 70 apartments sold in a second clip, multiple condos sold daily, coops selling like common stocks, developers bring new product to market like IPOs.
Sounds like RE money is the driving principle these days. There goes neighborhood.
Re: “…Australian rugby player punching an Upper West Side man during a drunken ‘rampage’….”
Has anyone else noticed that, in this case, the term “Aussie” would be much more accurate were its SECOND VOWEL removed?
I just read the source article detailing the events:
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/infuriating-new-york-family-terrorised-by-broncos-matt-lodge-speak-20180302-p4z2fh.html
long story short, good Samaritan answers distressed call is assaulted and then his house is destroyed and family are terrorized
sounds like roid rage – did they test?
this family sounds like they won’t get any restitution or peace from the sounds of what they say
shame
Cato/Ish/Steve , , , I called it last year. CP Conservatory would be getting sued for this mishap. Root was exposed at the sidewalk indicating possible deterioration.
Back in the day, it was DPR that operated, maintained, and enforced park rules. CP Conservatory, an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy handling issues that were originally assigned to a city agency.
If it wasn’t for the CP Conservancy, CP would be the horrible mess it was before they took over.
Thank you, Ken, for speaking the truth about DPR.
“Parks and Recreation” may have been a great TV comedy.
NYC’s DPR (Department of Parks and Recreation) is ALSO a comedy…sort of…in the same way that a visit to the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) is a REAL LAFF-RIOT.
WHY is CPC (Central Park CONSERVANCY) better than NYC-DPR? Here are just 2 reasons:
1) CPC was created to rescue Central Park from the mess that an under-funded DPR left it in. CPC was created by concerned wealthier (GASP!!) NY’ers who were determined to make the park what it once had been…just as Bryant Park, Madison Square Park, etc. were restored by groups of concerned citizens.
2) CPC does have administrators & employees…but administrators & employees who LOVE the park and are dedicated to it. As are the huge number of VOLUNTEERS who do a lot of the hands-on work BECAUSE THEY TOO love “their” park.
DPR let CP rot; CPC brought it back to life.
Not for nothing but getting hit by a tree due to Mother Nature should not mean that you should blame the parks department. Central Park is magnificent. Accidents do happen. And as much as I feel for the woman that got injured, I hope she loses her lawsuit. Unless they find that the Parks Department was negligent in maintaining the area. I know the area very well. They really do a very nice job. And how greedy do we want to get?
Wow! Great photo! Should be called “fire and Ice”