Silvershore faces suit over illegal cigarette sales at LES site

City accuses landlord of allowing a "public nuisance" at 197 Madison St.

197 Madison Street and David Shorenstein
197 Madison Street and David Shorenstein

Multi-family residential landlord Silvershore Properties was hit with a lawsuit from the city over an alleged illegal cigarette business on the ground floor of its Lower East Side building at 197 Madison Street.

The operators of Lamar’s Bagel & Grocery were charged with selling untaxed cigarettes out of the retail space. The city, which filed a suit in New York State Supreme Court yesterday, claimed that the landlord allowed a “public nuisance.” The act has a $1,000 penalty for each day that it occurred.

A Silvershore spokesperson told the New York Daily News the landlord was unaware of the sale of untaxed cigarettes. Silverstone intends to evict the tenant if the cigarette operation does not end right away.

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The building sold to Silvershore last year for $3.3 million, as previously reported. [NYDN]Mark Maurer