Windsor Park tenant sues Chetrit unit over alleged mice, mold

Sarah Schottenstein, who bought one of Yitzchak Tessler and the Chetrit Group’s $1.65 million luxury condominiums in the former Helmsley Windsor Hotel in Midtown, claims the unit came with mold and a mouse infestation.

Schottenstein purchased her two-bedroom unit at 100 West 58th Street in 2006, and told DNAinfo she was promised new plumbing and electric. But about a month into life in the new digs, she found mice, toxic mold growing beneath the floors, brown water streaming from the tap and a leaky ceiling, according to court documents.

“They defrauded me,” Schottenstein told DNAinfo. “This was supposed to be all new plumbing, new electrics, new mechanics and that was not the case.”

Schottenstein told DNainfo that she tried to work with building management to repair the problems at her Windsor Park unit, but a pipe burst and caused a partial ceiling collapse in 2007. The ensuing flood forced her out, and at that point felt she had no choice but to sue, according to court documents.

She aims to recover her closing costs and damages in her legal wrangle with Windsor Tov, the Chetrit-owned LLC that renovated the building, the condominium board and property manager, according to DNAinfo. An attorney for Windsor Tov did not respond to DNAinfo’s requests for comment.

Larry Pittinsky, an attorney for the condominium board, told DNAinfo the case was “about a woman trying to escape her obligation to pay money,” and declined to comment further on the case.

The city Department of Housing Preservation and Development has found 12 violations in the building since 20011, according to DNAinfo, and the Chetrits have faced similar criticism in other buildings. Tenants at the Hotel Chelsea complained of ceiling collapses, pipe bursts and other issues during the renovation of that property. [DNAinfo] — Julie Strickland