By Gus Saltonstall
Upper West Side resident Stuart Kalmenson knows all too well that the fall weather is getting colder. This winter will be his second with no heat or hot water in his apartment on West 89th Street, between Columbus and Central Park West. He will spend it in a home crammed with belongings, much of the floor invisible, after needing to move in items that he used to keep in the building’s storage lockers.
Those lockers no longer exist, like so much in this five-story townhouse where Kalmenson, 59, has lived since 2006.
For the last five years, Kalmenson has been locked in a legal battle with an ownership group led by former New York Giants football player Chris Canty, who purchased the property in 2020 for more than $5 million.
“Most people would back down, but I’m not the type,” Kalmenson told West Side Rag in an interview in his apartment, about the ongoing dispute with the ownership group. “When somebody bullies me, I stand up for myself.”
The townhouse used to have nine units occupied, but all of the other tenants moved out in May of 2020 when their leases expired. Kalmeson told the Rag that he had also planned to move out at the time, but the arrangement he’d made fell through. And when he asked the new ownership group to lend some money to help him move out, he never heard back.
So he stayed.
Soon after, Canty’s group filed a motion in New York Housing Court to evict Kalmenson. That eviction effort is still ongoing. Meanwhile, Kalmenson said the new ownership group soon thereafter began construction, all around him.
“For six months, they were working as if it was a vacant building,” Kalmenson told the Rag. “The vibrations, the noise, the dust – it was terrible. My walls started collapsing. It was like living in the middle of a construction zone.”
There is currently a partial stop work order on the property and more than 440 open violations from the New York City Department of Housing Preservation & Development, which include infestations of cockroaches and mice, broken floorings and ceilings, and mounting rubbish in the hallways.
To keep the mice at bay, Kalmenson has built a makeshift fortress of cushions and cardboard along his living room wall.
Neither Canty nor his lawyer immediately responded to the Rag’s request for comment, but the lawyer, William Moran, previously denied any wrongdoing by the ex-Giants player and told the New York Post this July that “Mr. Kalmenson’s allegations are without merit.”
The housing preservation and development office has twice sued Canty’s ownership group since 2022 over violations it recorded in the building. City records show that those cases were eventually settled for $8,000.
City records also show that In the fall of 2021, the New York City Department of Buildings fined the ownership group of the West 89th Street building $20,000 for falsely claiming the address was empty, when they started gutting the building, and also for failing to provide a “tenant protection plan.” Following a stop-work order related to the false claim, construction began once again after a few months.
When work resumed, “It wasn’t as bad but still not good. My walls started to collapse because when you have a guy working with a jackhammer upstairs, it has an effect,” Kalmenson said. “I have to take medicine. I have anxiety attacks. At any minute I could find out that I’m homeless.”
In the past two years, there have been more than 700 additional complaints filed for the address with the city. Almost all were filed by Kalmenson, and many of them alleged the lack of heat or hot water since October 2024.
Both Kalmenson and the ownership group are in a period of limbo, as the ruling on the eviction case from NYC’s Housing Court is expected in the coming weeks or months.
“I live in fear of that decision every day,” Kalmenson said. “I really haven’t been able to get back to work [Kalmenson worked as a data scientist and consultant]. And not having heat and hot water, getting a new job is enough of a challenge without being old and not being able to shower or scrape together some funds.”
Kalmenson also insists that the building is rent stabilized, despite the previous owners operating it as a co-op and charging market rate prices. He had been paying $2,600 a month in rent when the new ownership group took over the building in 2020.
If the building is found by the court system to be made up of rent-stabilized units, then Kalmenson – along with the tenants who moved out after their leases expired in May of 2020 – would have been legally required to have been offered a renewal lease.
Canty’s group has denied this claim, court documents show.
When asked how he’d like to see the legal battle end, Kalmenson offered multiple scenarios, including one where a judge deemed the building rent-stabilized, and he was offered back his apartment at a corresponding monthly price.
He added that would also accept a large amount of money to leave the Upper West Side building. Kalmenson was offered $45,000 in 2021 by the ownership group to move out, but denied the offer, in part because he had just been approved for emergency rent relief related to the COVID pandemic.
“At this point, I just spent five years being a lawyer. It’s not really what I want to be doing with my life,” Kalmenson said. “All my time has been spent on legal work. I’d like to get back to earning money.”
Kalemenson launched a GoFundMe in September to help pay for his legal bills.
When asked what the experience overall had left him feeling, Kalmenson kept it simple:
“Alone,” he said.
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Anyone who thinks landlords in NYC have an easy time needs to think again.
I have been a tenant for 49 yrs and it ain’t easy! Landlords used to be able to get away with murder especially during the eviction plan red herring co-op conversion days we fought,we won and I have a safe warm place to live till I die….and I’m grateful…
thumb down
Must be lonely down there.
I will never have empathy for landlords in this city.
Same here. Its a nasty business
And anyone who thinks the tenants are living easy should do the same
He can leave
It’s a home he has paid through the nose for. He should own it by now. At the very least, they should buy him a comparable apartment that costs the same or less per month and pay for all moving costs. Otherwise, they are obligated to provide all the services required of them.
What? A renter who is not paying rent is considered to be entitled to ownership?!
How on earth did you come up with these conclusions including buying him an apartment?!
Why should he leave these landlords are not honest they are liars, irresponsible, greedy as they all are.
Fight like hell Stuart!
It’s rent stabilized, Sparky
They’re breaking the law!
Hey, who you calling Sparky?
Fighting like hell when you are completely wrong is not a good thing.
Landlords have a special place in HELL.
HE IS NOT WRONG IF IT IS A RENT STABILIZED APARTMENT THAT WAS MIS-CATEGORIZED AS HE CLAIMS.
Fight! Fight!
They can offer him a buy-out or an apartment so he can afford to move out.
I can claim that I’m Emperor of Freedonia, but it doesn’t make it so. Without proof, this man’s claim carries just about as much merit.
Wasn’t he offered $45,000 and he refused it. Not too smart..
45k gets you nothing. Absolutely nothing
Try getting $45;000 when you don’t have it.
He did not refuse there was a reason they tricked him. He is an older person.
It’s not enough. Not nearly enough.
Unfortunately, the amount he was offered would not be enough for him to establish himself in this real estate market–in this world.
I imagine there are plenty of apartments in NYC at $2,600 per month … and for $45,000, that’s the cost of moving, plus approx. 17 months of free rent, and most likely at a nice building without mice, bugs, dust, construction, and fear. So what if he has to travel a few more subway stops? ! I will never understand the notion of fighting for the sake of fighting. It’s cutting one’s nose off to spite one’s face. Life is to short to fight for a losing cause. He cannot possibly win this if the building was sold.
Can I get an apartment in your imagination? Could use something better…
You are clearly wildly ignorant of tenant-landlord law in NYC, something you know that I know a GREAT deal about, not only after having served as a Tenant Advocate (now called Guardian ad Litem) in Manhattan Housing Court for 10 years, but also after winning 21 out of 23 cases in that court.
This man is well within his legal rights as a lease-holding tenant – despite the building being sold. In fact, new owners have legal obligations to the lease-holding tenants they want to evict. The new owners are simply using hardball tactics to try to force him out: first, they renege on whatever “arrangement” they had with him; then they refuse to even help him move out – which is a LEGAL obligation under these circumstances; and finally, they are simply being a-holes by preferring to allow an old man to suffer than to simply give him some help in moving out.
You are 110% wrong. Both morally and legally.
Wow, to call a commentator morally wrong is something. And WSR publishes it.
Btw, you can be an expert all you want and you are right about someone holding let’s say a yearly lease, but he didn’t have a lease, he was a month-to-month renter courtesy of the new owner. And that’s how he repaid him.
Last holdout at 15 CPW in 2004 received 17 million to leave
That is not true, in NYC when you buy a building, the new owner inherits all tenants, they knew there were people living there they just lied, to the court that the building was empty, that’s the reason there is a stop work order.
…and you know this first hand?
Thank you, he should have already secured other living arrangements. He’s still going to be evicted.
Stuart has stayed too long at the fair..There is strength in numbers & all of his other neighbors have given up support & left. His mental energy should be finding another habitat. If construction tumbles down on him leaving injury, he’d be the double loser.
… is this man mentally ill? The other tenants left when their leases were up. He is not being “bullied” – he is overstaying his lease.
This sort of thing is keeping units unoccupied.
Ain’t that TOO BAD!..we native NYers do not give IN..we fight for our rights I did I won ..and he will too,those that left were I’m willing to bet young,monied ( or parentallyn supported) newcomers who couldn’t have cared less..they probably weren’t there long enuf to give a damn so for them it’s move on time…many of us don’t have that luxury.
You clearly aren’t reading. If it’s rent-stabilized (and it likely is) he must legally be offered a renewal lease. That’s non-debatable if it’s rent-stabilized. Those others certainly can opt to leave but they don’t have to leave. If the Canty group were smart they would just offer him a sizeable amount to vacate, like a low 6 figures like literally EVERY other new owner does in the city when they want to post a stubborn renter, especially a rent-stabilized one. They’re paying much more in legal fees and fines for the violations that wouldn’t have been discovered had he not reported their abuse.
> You clearly aren’t reading. If it’s rent-stabilized (and it likely is)
Prove it.
It’s simple to find out if the building is subject to rent stabilization. The records are at DHCR. The Department of Housing and Community. Renewal
You’re a bully this man has rights and why are you involved !!
Rent stabilized apartment,,, can stay forever
Not without heat or hot water. I mean that New owner probably want to live in the entire building with his family.
Where did he say it is rent stabilized? He said he didn’t move because the place where he was supposed to to tell through. Nothing about rent stabilised
Under his picture. “Kalmenson also insists that the building is rent stabilized”…
And he’s incorrect. Legally speaking, his “insistence” is meaningless.
It’s not rent stabilized. He’s a subtenant of a co-op owner and all the owners sold. This guy is basically trying to squat years after his lease was up.
Seems to me that the new owners should be able to prove that in an eviction action. Why haven’t they?
This is NYC. It can take 6-10 months to get an eviction proceeding for simple nonpayment, and even then there are many procedural ways to get held up. If it’s a more complex case, it can take years for the proceedings to complete.
Guess you missed the part where he alleges the building is rent stabilized, in which case he’d be entitled to a lease renewal.
In five years he hasn’t been able to prove it? I don’t know about that.
There should be records of it being rent stabilized (the apartment) in the past, and then it (apartment) being sold as part of a co-op.
It’s just as valid to ask, why can’t the owners simply prove that he didn’t have an RS lease. In other words, what did his lease/s say, were they standard RS leases, if they were, then he has a case.
Congratulations? Five years of fighting and you get to live in a hovel with mice and no heat, hoping a judge some day will rule in your favor. Should have taken the $45,000!
If he hasn’t paid rent he saved about 150 grand.
He’s been unemployed the entire time, he should have done better with that time and at least found work.
I think that’s really the issue now he just doesn’t want to pay rent. Anywhere.
I think if you do the math he actually lost more than the 150K you think he saved – he’s lost a career and years of his life living among mice and rats…
Should have, more than enough to move. First months rent and security deposit
Im sure people lining up to rent to this guy! My favorite part, and there are many, he felt the new owner should help pay for his moving costs. I think this is what privilege looks like.
I agree, he had a lot of nerve to ask that. Then he turned down 45k to move on, maybe he should think about NOT living on UWS…….. He had no objection to moving after his lease was up until his plans fell through, now all of a sudden the building is rent stabilized.
He asked them to “loan” him money to move.
Wow!! You think “privilege” is living with mice, roaches, no heat or hot water and jackhammers above??? Perhaps you need either a dictionary or a health check.
Living in this condition is his choice. No one is forcing him to.
Ask for 1 million to move out ,, not less
A Poster Kids for Why NYC has a housing shortage. I’m sure the building was MORE than fair, this guy is taking advantage of NYC stupid housing laws.
And wonde4 why it’s impossible to build housing in NYC? How many units of housing would’ve been added to the market if this selfish person had not been able to game the system for so long?
This man deserves real support.
Perhaps Tony Danza, who is railing against another uws construction project, could dovetail the events.
I am typically more fir the landlord, they often get a bad rap based on nonsense and bottom feeding, but in both cases, the Tony Danza fight, and this one, the landlords are monsters.
Our hearts should go out to Mr Kalmenson, and our minds. Action.
“The rich” are often villianized without any real cause, class envy, class warfare, but here, on the Upper West Side, the wealthy developers need to be put in CHECK.
And Mr Kalmenson deserves better than this. Bullies are the enemy of us all.
What exactly has been done to villainize this guy? If you are living on a lease you know that it may not be renewed at any point. You are not entitled to live in someone else’s property indefinitely. There’s no proof other than his own claim (and the man doesn’t seem all there) that it’s rent stabilized. If it was, it’d be easy to prove 5 yrs ago.
If it was rent stabilized then why did all the other people move out? He’s the only person who knows the truth, I doubt that.
So are squatters.
The rich are often villianized because often especially in there here and a lot of them are actual villians.
You mean the people who pay almost all of the taxes?
This is an only in NYC story.
The claims of the owner of the building or Mr Kalmenson is besides the point. The city is wasting valuable taxpayer resources splitting hairs debating rent stabilization. The heart of this problem is NYC’s rent regulation laws.
Get rid of these insane laws and we won’t have this nonsense and we will have plenty of affordable housing for everyone.
I agree, Otis, let’s get rid of these insane laws. But let’s be real . There will always, always be many more people who want to live in NYC than can fit here. That means no matter what, there will be an affordable housing “shortage”. Fact of life.
Citation? Besides a basic and skewed youtube video from Joe Rogan about Econ 101?
Buddy, right or wrong this is no way to live your life. Move on. You tried, you lost. You look miserable. You probably haven’t slept in years. You’re fighting yourself now. Go find some peace.
For the sake of his own health, he should accept an offer and move. BUT, if it appears likely that he will win in court, then he should fight ot out. I feel sorry for this man. I have been through gentrification and regentrification, in the East Village and in Bed-Stuy. LIMITLESS fraud, intimidation, illegal evictions. Unbelievable stories. People really suffered.
So …. this guy is a squatter – right? … am I missing something?
For five years!
Donald Trump could do so much for the NYC housing market by withholding federal housing funding until rent control and rent stabilization are permanently ended.
hahaha – Donald couldn’t even solve it when HE was the actual landlord. Google Vera Coking.
Really
Yes really! NYC is a bureaucratic nightmare. Too many layers of government in NYS and NYC. But it is a great place if you don’t want to work, but still like to eat.
I thought coops allowed owners to rent out their apartment for 1-2 years at a time at most, how did this renter stay for 14 years by 2020 ?
Some co ops allow sublets for longer. Apparently this one did.
Each coop can make their own rules about this. (No city or state law covers this.) In mine, there’s no limit to how long one can rent out an apartment you own. In my Mom’s building, you can rent only 3 out of 5 years at a time.
I honestly couldn’t tell what the point of the article was—are we supposed to feel sorry for this guy or root for him to fight back? I do feel kind of bad seeing his situation, but isn’t this pretty much his own fault? Not getting your lease renewed isn’t a huge shock, it happens all the time. And honestly, asking the mgmt for money to help him move was already pretty bold. So what’s he actually trying to do now, and does he even have any real reason to stay?
He doesn’t pay anything to be there every month. That and the hope that he’ll get a big payout are the reasons to stay.
And this is what hurts the rental market for others who are not trying to game the system. It’s why many private landlords are forced to do what they do. This is not someone I’d ever want to rent to!
Wait. 5 million dollars for a whole brownstone off CPW? I assume ithe price was so low because it was bought on the height of COVID?
You can buy them now at that price too. Depends on which one.
Possibly in need of major, major repairs and that seems to be part of the issue with all the citations — bugs, mice, etc. Most likely needs decades of modernization.
Row houses (brownstones if you will) that are occupied with rental tenants (as this West 89th property was) generally sell for less than if unoccupied. That and certainly less than if property was already renovated or otherwise existed as single family home.
Sale price reflects costs of existing tenants and renovating property either to high end rental or into private family home.
Current average price for brownstone/row house on UWS is about $3 million USD. Thus, this West 89th street property was priced with location (off CPW) in mind.
David Au locked out my mother and I from 117mottstreet in Chinatown on august 20, 2020 thanks to collaboration with nyc govt, judge destefano and multiple malpracticing attorneys causing us multiple hospital admissions. Why hasnt the nypost reported on a football player committing slumlord crimes? Where is cbsnews and abcnews?
Mr. Kalmenson is a holdover tenant, the unit (the whole building actually) is not rent stabilized, so that argument goes away for lease renewal.
Good for him !! Bullying and doing construction around a tenant living with no heat and hot water and rats is just inhumane .. shame on the owner !! They should have made sure this gentleman was secure in an apartment if his choice and helped with rent for a year or so!! This is horrible what this man has to endure !! How are we even human spiritual beings by not helping a human like this . One day we will ge to a place of love for one another ! We will. I will be praying for you tenant .. you are a noble human and it’s your right not to move !! Shame on you the owner where are your morals for humans we are all one !
My god. You are the problem.
Grow up. This man WAS prepared to move out and then that fell through. So find another place that you can afford and live like a person with some dignity. He’s choosing to live like this and he’s saving all that rent he isn’t paying. It sounds like this David vs not-so-Goliath is really about mental health issues. There is no free lunch….except in NYC!
Maybe his mental health is pretty sharp. He sees an opportunity to live for free based upon the many flaws that exist in our housing market. I find it fairly deplorable that anyone sees him as the victim here or assumes he is “poor.” I bet he knows exactly what he is doing.
at some point you have to cut your losses.
the 2021 $45K offer would’ve been a good moment to do that
Ladies – if you meet this guy in a bar and he invites you back to his place, don’t go. For so many reasons…
The best comment so far 😆
Dating advice under this article… not something I would have ever expected!
Stand your ground I agree with everything you are doing to fight for your home👍👊
Based on what? It’s not his home. He was paying rent. By law you are not entitled to anything once your lease expires. Who do you think foots the magical bill for you to live rent free forever?
The real problem here is that the court system is non-functional.
This is not a case that should take five years to decide.
If this is a rent-stabilized building, it should take only a matter of months at most to determine that.
If it is not a rent-stabilized building then it should have taken only a few months to evict the tenant after his lease expired.
If it is a rent stabilized building it should have taken only a few months to determine that tenant has a right to remain in the building, that his rights have been violated and he is entitled to compensation.
That this has taken five years is frankly a disaster for all involved.
Why you did not take the offer
Maybe you could had ask for another ten thousand without being greedy
You are wrong I do not care how much money they have that does not give you a right to suck them for more money
Scheme on you
WHAT?
I agree. I applaud him on principle, right up until the moment he rejects the offer. Not wise.
This guy is no hero, unless heroics = stupidity. I’m not arguing right or wrong here, but at what point is “the principle” just not worth it? He ruined his own life to prove a point that may or may not work out…
This guy has mental problems, sounds like he wanted cash for keys, and when they refused to give him his desired amount, he stayed and sat on the place. Nyc is very pro tenant and these people can and will delay for up to forever if they wish with the right judge.
My gf had a holdover tenant during covid in nyc, the tenants roommates moved out because holdover was crazy. She refused to find new roommates and pat full rent, so we tried to help her move or find a cheaper place.. she refused. Took over a year to move the menance out, lots of money and stress. She stopped renting out afterwards.
It’s called squatting
Aside from this tenant’s situation, seems to me the real story is yet another building where apartments were warehoused and building to be emptied for sale and luxury replacement.
Elected officials keep insisting on new high rise development for “trickle down” housing.
But they are silent and do nothing on the housing that is removed and lost.
What do you mean “warehousing”? It was a co-op and the owners opted to sell to someone. Probably because it was not economical/desirable to maintain the building.
It can’t be a co-op. Whoever wrote the article is mistaken. A co-op is a building owned by ALL the tenants on ground leased by a owner owned corporation. No one person owns it or can dictate. He was a renter, not an owner. The article is mistaken as to what the situation is/was. He is a renter.
You don’t read so good. It is made clear at the very beginning of the article that he is a renter: “The townhouse used to have nine units occupied, but all of the other tenants moved out in May of 2020 when their leases expired.”
It is 100% a co-op. Check out the links WSR posted. They list a BBL that corresponds to 33 West 89th Street. The building is owned by 33 WEST 89TH STREET OWNERS CORP in the Department of Finance records and it’s classified as a co-op.
A single entity bought a co-op from the shareholders, and one of those shareholders had a subletter. That subletter is squatting beyond the end of his lease.
https://a836-pts-access.nyc.gov/care/datalets/datalet.aspx?mode=profileall2&s&UseSearch=no&pin=1012030020&jur=65
If you check out ACRIS, you will see that the building was bought from its shareholders. BBL 1203-20 if you have used ACRIS before. A summary of other building info is here: https://propertyinformationportal.nyc.gov/parcels/parcel/1012030020
That’s an owner’s prerogative. We still have property rights in America. Put your money on the line and do what you want with the property.
Exactly right malt. But how do we fix this on a practical level? Do we not allow people to combine units? That seems unfair. The end result of richer people moving in and combining units is less people in the neighborhood. Is a less dense neighborhood a bad thing?
I own a 6 family rent stabilized bldg. in bklyn. for 40 years. I have great tenants, thank God. One abusive tenant can ruin me. I’ve points to make: for a rent subsidy program to be successful today there needs to be means testing. And an equitable real estate tax. And inclusion of 4 unit on up bldgs in the program. That said..
My profit margin is shrinking by the year, a simple fact. I could sell and get 4% with CDs. Taxes, utilities, insurance if you can get it have taken big jumps. A roof, a boiler? Disaster. Now a 4 year rent freeze, I know owners looking to bail out now.
I dont know the answer, wages haven’t kept up. But beating on little guys like me isn’t it.
Mental Issues are REAL but no one seems to realize it. If your rent is not paid why is this unhinged person thinks he can stay? Get a LIFE AND GET OUT!!
Why would anyone go through all this to live in a construction zone full of trash and rodents? What does he expect to gain? Life is short.
He’s a whack job.
Stand your ground Mr.Kalmenson. The city has lost many of its residents as property owners have cashed in on the market for multi-milliion $$ condos. They are entitled to make their money, but not at the expense of tenants. They have enough money to offer you enough money or an apartment that meets your needs. I hope the court sides with you.
Landlord should have offered a buyout. As always, landlord is a pig.
As always??? You’ve no idea what you’re talking about. Try buying something with someone who is a tenant like you and live with it. Then you’ll understand what your “as always“ means.
Hang in there Mr. Kalmenson.
Mamdani is coming to the rescue!
I hope you’re being sarcastic.
The ownership has more than enough money to offer him a solution that enables him to stay in NYC in a good home. $45,000 is not enough to give him more than a couple of years before he runs out of only unless he can get an apartment at a similar rent. That won’t happen. In my building, $3,000 month former rent stabilized apartments are now $$12,000-14,000 month. They are taken by two income millennials who likely make $500,000 a year or more. They all drive Mercedes and Audi SUVs and have nannies. The building owner is entitled to make this money since there are more than enough high income people who want them. But Mr.Kalmenson is also entitled to a comfortable and affordable home that the building owners can well afford to help him get.
Aside from the obvious mental issues (what Wharton/MIT data scientist ruins their life and lives like hobo over a trivial amount of money – don’t these guys get $500K/year just to turn their laptops on?), this is what the blurring of the clear lines of property rights leads to with the ridiculous rent controls and tenant protections. Bureaucratic nonsense at its finest. If this is my property, your rights as a tenant should unequivocally end the moment the lease contract expires, period. Your rights regarding the property’s condition/services should be protected for the period of the lease, and not a day more. A contract both parties can freely enter and exit from, with clear parameters for both.
All choices have consequences and this gentleman had a choice.
Oy vey! My take: life is short! Yes, some fights are worth fighting with every ounce of your strength., but some are NOT. Maybe it’s time to move on, get back on track with your life? Best of luck!
If he had spent the money, he saved by not paying rent on psychiatric HELP, he would have been out of that apartment years ago.
This is no good for the owners building or houses this type
People think they own there place .Reazon i can not vote for Mandami for Mayor they have to change in NY the law to help the owners building.
I owned a Rowhouse on the upper east side of Manhattan in the mid 80s. One tenant didn’t pay rent for whatever ridiculous reason for one year, causing me to sell the building at a loss because I could not afford to pay the difference in expenses and taxes out of pocket.
This tenant is a despicable, expecting someone else to pay his way.
Mamdani expects landlords to pay the way for everyone. Please don’t vote for him.
Please, everyone who reads this don’t vote for him. He will destroy the city we love.
This is a CO-OP building where he rented from an owner in 2006 – there’s no way it’s a rent-stabilized apartment. In a RS building that converts to a co-op, once the RS tenant moves out, the unit automatically becomes market rate. Since he began renting in 2006, it long ago lost any rent-stabilized status (assuming it ever had one to begin with). That was obvious to the other eight tenants who moved out.
Let’s be honest: he’s clearly exploiting the COVID loopholes and NY’s notoriously slow court system to drag things out in order to (1) live rent -free as long as possible and (2) squeeze a bigger payout from the owner. He’s already lived rent-free for several years. Looks like his time is up soon as I can’t see a court ruling in his favor.
Thank you West Side Rag for this excellent and thorough reporting. I appreciate that you put in the address of the GoFundMe site. I have just sent a donation.
YAY Mr. Kalemenson.
Check out his GoFundMe (link in the article). Not big money but I’m guessing all the new donors in the last day are WSR readers.
So he has been a squatter living rent free in the building for five years?! How do owners not have any power of their own buildings?
He have to take the money the Owner is gave him to help him and find another place
The law in NY have to change and have to be for the Owners and the Tenan the same.
Looks like it’s taken a physical toll on him—he looks beaten down—also no heat and hot water thru winter—does he use a space heater or hot plates?—seems like a very dangerous way to live—and how is he not padlocked out when he must leave the building?—hmm lights are on so there’s electric—but how do those pipes not freeze in the winter with no heat?
He should sit for bar exam like Kim Kardashian.
He is absolutely within his legal rights, and it even seems that the new ownership group knows this full well and is simply using hardball tactics to try and get him out. Interestingly, he talks about an “arrangement” he had with the owners, which fell through. This was probably a buy-out (though it doesn’t sound like it was particularly large), and the owners simply reneged. Then he says that he “asked the new ownership group to lend some money to help him move out,” This is not only with his legal rights, but is a legal REQUIREMENT of a new owner with regard to any existing tenants they want to remove who have active and legal leases. And again, it doesn’t sound like Mr. Kalmenson was asking for much.
As well, no matter WHAT the situation is, the owners are legally required to provide him with heat and hot water pursuant to the lease requirements regarding those things.
Mr. Kalmenson seems absolutely blameless here, while the owners sound like mean-spirited hardball a-holes who would rather cause an old man to suffer than simply either buy him out (for a reasonable amount) or even give him some money to help him move. F— them.
But he doesn’t have an active and legal lease, it expired, that’s the whole point.
Ian,
The lease he had is over, the building was a coop before the start of his lease. The lease is not required to be renewed, he is a holdover tenant. For him this was never a rent stabilized apartment.
You see some of his arguments that it was not a properly converted coop. Look at the filings with the banks for financing by the previous owners, that were more than 5 years ago (well before his lease).
There is no legal requirement to offer him a buyout of any sort with an expired market rate apartment lease.
The part that is problematic and allow for endless complaints is that holdover tenants are allowed the same treatment as it relates to construction. A TPP for example is required and to be followed. One problematic mistake is that new owner filed with vacant building checked in lieu of a TPP. Also one cannot cutoff vital facilities for a holdover tenant. The current owner has dug a hole for themselves by not following the construction and tenant laws.
The building does seem to sold off market and could have been known this holdover tenant is not going to leave easily.
In summary this person is not allowed to live there, The effort to do construction has further muddied the waters by not following the requirements allowing him to drag out the situation. He also gets free legal council from the city.
You are clearly unfamiliar with the 2019 rent laws. They got rid of quite a bit of what you are claiming here regarding holdover tenants, new ownership, and other things.
He is FULLY within his LEGAL rights right now, and has been for the duration of this situation.
Right – but if this building is a co-op, then good cause eviction does not apply. There are a host of other exceptions where good cause eviction does not apply and without reading the new owner’s legal pleadings, we don’t know if any others apply.
It seems his lease ended years ago, but he manipulated Covid eviction restrictions to squat. They offered him a VERY reasonable buy-out to get him to stop abusing the legal system. He declined the offer.
Again, he’s not a rent-stabilized tenant. This building is a co-op and he was a subletter. Now his lease is years expired and he’s flooding the City with nuisance complaints:
https://hpdonline.nyc.gov/hpdonline/building/36763/violations
Loose cabinet drawers? Come on.
Old man? He’s 59, which means he was only 54 when this started! Just for the record there are studio and 1 br apartments located in safe neighborhoods on the UES ranging from $2400-$3000. Five years ago the rents were significantly lower! I understand this man needs help, but I don’t think throwing him $25 on GoFundMe for legal fees is the answer. : (
He is certainly old enough to understand the ramifications of the word “rent.” Go Fund Me is getting obscene. It needs to vet causes more carefully.
This is why building in New York is so expensive. This person does not own their home and should be evicted, which will allow for more housing units and for a new building to be built more quickly.
This is not new and you post every day .
This is not good example for the rest the Tenans in NY