Boymelgreen banned from selling condos in NY for two years

Schneiderman reaches agreement with controversial developer, ending lengthy investigation

From left: Eric Schneiderman, Shaya Boymelgreen and 20 Pine Street in the Financial District
From left: Eric Schneiderman, Shaya Boymelgreen and 20 Pine Street in the Financial District

UPDATED, 2:45 p.m., Sept. 2: Shaya Boymelgreen has been banned from selling condominium units for two years following a settlement with the state Attorney General’s office over claims he refused to finish work and fix construction defects at half a dozen buildings in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Under the terms of the agreement reached earlier this month, the New York Times reported, Boymelgreen agreed to fix building violations and faulty construction at six buildings he developed.

They include the 409-unit 20 Pine Street in Lower Manhattan, the 79-unit Beacon Tower at 85 Adams Street in Dumbo and Newswalk, the former New York Daily News printing plant in Prospect Heights that was converted into 137 condominiums.

Boymelgreen is banned from being involved in any way in the sale or offer of securities in New York for two years, including condos. Should he violate the settlement, he will be permanently barred from selling apartments in New York.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said the agreement would finally close the book on “Mr. Boymelgreen’s perpetual fraud and abuse in New York City real estate securities.

Boymelgreen’s lawyers did not return calls for comment.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

The developer has all but disappeared from the spotlight since rising to prominence as one of the city’s most high-profile developers before the recession left a trail of failed condo projects in its wake.

The 65-year-old real estate player was born in Israel and immigrated to the United States in 1969. He worked in asbestos abatement before partnering with Israeli businessman Lev Leviev in the early 2000s.

That partnership ended with bad blood in 2007.

Schneiderman’s investigation began back in 2013, but condo buyers had been suing Boymelgreen since as early as 2007. Boymelgreen settled for undisclosed sums with the condo boards at 15 Broad and 20 Pine. Boymelgreen’s partners Itzhak Katan and Domenick Tonacchio are parties to the settlement.[NYT]Rich Bockmann

Clarification: Itzhak Katan and Domenick Tonacchio are parties to the the settlement, but are not banned from selling condos. Language in an earlier version of this post made that point unclear.