National Arts Club former president gets new hearing, can stay put for now

A Manhattan Supreme Court decision has ordered that O. Aldon James, former president of the National Arts Club, get a new hearing, DNAinfo reported. Because of this ruling, James will not have to leave the club this month, as the club board had hoped. The same goes for his twin brother John and their friend Steven Leitner.

The decision comes as the club’s board, which approved James’ expulsion from the club in late January, did not appear to be unbiased in its decision, said Justice Carol Edmead. The board voted to expel the trio on allegations that they misused club apartments to hoard belongings purchased with the club’s money.

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The evidence includes a countersuit that the club filed back in December, which sought around $3 million in damages the club charged James had caused, according to DNAinfo. The judge said that filing this claim before holding the expulsion hearing may have influenced the process.

The three men have control of six of the club’s 40 apartments. As previously reported, they all tried to stop the expulsion with a lawsuit filed last August. [DNAinfo]