Alphonse Fletcher Jr. and City Council Member Lew Fidler

Following a three-year wait, a City Council committee is holding a hearing today on a bill that strives to end co-op board discrimination, the New York Post reported.

“There is no question that discrimination goes on in the purchasing and selling of a co-op,” City Council member Lew Fidler, who sponsored the bill, told the Post. “Anybody who has been involved in the buying and selling of co-ops … if they’re going to be honest knows that truth.” [more]

Alphonse Fletcher Jr. and the Dakota

A New York state judge has allowed the lawyers representing hedge fund manager Alphonse Fletcher Jr. to officially withdraw his lawsuit against the Dakota co-op board, the Wall Street Journal reported.In late October, the law firm Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman asked the court to drop Fletcher’s discrimination case, citing non-payment. [more]

Alphonse Fletcher Jr. and the Dakota

Hedge-fund manager Alphonse Fletcher Jr.’s race discrimination lawsuit against the Dakota has hit a major setback that could put the case on ice, according to the Wall Street Journal. The law firm Fletcher hired to represent him, Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman, has asked the court to withdraw the case, due to “non-payment of very substantial legal fees.”

Fletcher sued the historic Central Park West building after the co-op board rejected his attempt to purchase the apartment neighboring his own in 2010. He claimed that the board discriminated against him because he is African-American. The co-op board fired back that his bid contained “red flags,” suggesting he could not afford the unit. [more]