New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is expected to announce within days whether his office will approve the controversial
condominium conversion of the landmark Apthorp on Manhattan’s Upper West
Side. Cuomo’s office has investigated the property since
September 2009, when investor Lev
Leviev’s Africa Israel and the Feil Organization submitted a list
of 36 contracted buyers who critics allege are largely inside business
associates or relatives of the developers. Legal sources told The Real Deal that Cuomo’s office
has previously conducted extensive reviews of these buyers, including
sworn interviews, to determine whether these buyers were procured
through a transparent process or signed sham contracts to help pump up
sales figures for the developer. [more]