The Empire Hotel has suffered another setback in its long battle with neighbors over noise emanating from its popular rooftop bar. But both sides in the dispute say the case may be nearing an amicable resolution.
The Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court last week issued a decision stating that nearby co-op 61 West 62nd Street is still entitled to a preliminary injunction limiting the amount of noise the bar can make.

Residents of the co-op, overlooking the 12-story hotel at 44 West 63rd Street at Broadway, in 2009 filed a lawsuit alleging that the bar was playing music at “extremely loud levels,” sometimes until 3 a.m., thus “tormenting” residents of nearby apartments, according to the complaint. The residents requested that bar patrons no longer be allowed to use the outdoor areas of the bar, Empire Hotel Rooftop Bar and Lounge, which is operated by Jeffrey Chodorow’s China Grill Management. [more]

A legal fight over noise on the rooftop of the Empire Hotel at 44 West 63rd Street, between Broadway and Ninth Avenue, is heating up once again, almost a year after judges sided with neighbors who filed to stop the racket in 2010, according to DNAinfo.

Firefighters responded to a 911 call at 1am Sunday night, ordering about 120 people off the roof where 400 people were supposedly partying. “It felt like a small victory for the little guy,” neighbor Monte Friedman told the 20th precinct’s community council at a meeting on Monday. [more]

Co-op and condominium buyers have more leeway to pursue legal action against developers, according to Crain’s, following a New York Appellate Division ruling last week. The ruling, which related to a suit against JPMorgan Chase in which the plaintiff claimed the defendant committed gross negligence, superseded a law that typically allows only the attorney general to file class action suits in regard to securities. The law, known as the Martin Act, has forced tenants in the past to go through the attorney general’s office to instigate legal action against their developer, according to real estate attorney Steven Sladkus of Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz. [more]

Amid accusations of a sham closing, buyers at new condo No. 22 Renwick are getting their money back.
Purchasers at the delayed Soho development were given a 15-day period in which to rescind their contracts, according to a Feb. 17 amendment to the offering plan obtained by The Real Deal (see amendment after the jump). In a previous amendment, filed in November, sponsor 22 Renwick Street Associates stipulated that purchasers would receive the right of rescission unless a temporary certificate of occupancy, or TCO, for at least 50 percent of the units in contract had been issued by Jan. 31, 2010. The TCO was not issued in time, according to the amendment, so purchasers who were in contract at the time of the November amendment were told they could back out of their contracts and get their deposits back. Located at 22 Renwick Street between Spring and Canal streets. It was hit with a stop work order in December, but it has since been removed, according to the Department of Buildings Web site. A growing number of new developments, including Linden78, One Madison Park and the Setai, are being forced to offer their buyers so-called right of rescission in the real estate downturn, often due to construction delays. [more]

Jeffrey Davis, the general manager of Columbus Square, in front of the saltwater pool at 808 Columbus

From the January issue: When history books describe the real estate boom of the mid-2000s, they are likely to mention over-the-top amenities. In the mid-aughts, New Yorkers went mad for buildings with movie screening rooms, roof decks and pet spas. Buyers forked over six-figure down payments, and renters signed pricey yearlong leases, often assuming amenities were included. No more. Amid the hangover of the boom, the next generation of residential buildings will come with a bevy of extra fees and surcharges that New Yorkers aren’t accustomed to paying, often incurred to cover the cost of expensive features designed in more prosperous times. Fees for amenities at rental buildings did exist in some places before, but now are being expanded to include traditionally free features, like roof decks. New condos, meanwhile, are struggling to cover budget shortfalls by implementing transfer fees, special assessments and extra charges for previously included amenities like fitness and party rooms. [more]

From left: Shaun Osher, CEO of Core, developer Joseph Cayre, and Blanca Lofts at 206 East 73rd Street

Developer Joseph Cayre and residential brokerage firm Core are facing a $10 million lawsuit by the Blanca Lofts condominium board, which is alleging widespread fraud, negligence and breach of contract in the construction of the Upper East Side building and the sale of its units. The suit against Cayre and Core comes as Blanca Lofts, a 10-unit condo at 206 East 73rd Street, faces two other lawsuits alleging widespread flooding, mold and other defects in the quality of materials and workmanship. The $10 million board suit, filed Dec. 21 in New York State Supreme Court, names Gadaleta and HHF Design Consulting, led by Helmut Hans Fenster, as defendants. It alleges negligence, fraud, misrepresentation and professional malpractice related to the architectural, engineering and consulting services at the building. HHF and Fenster, in court documents, denied the allegations and made cross claims against Cayre, Core and the other contractors. Fenster claims his firm, HHF, did engineering work, and if there is any negligence or fraud, it was done on behalf of the other defendants. [more]

From the October issue: When the buyer of a new development condo on the Upper West Side broke
his sales contract last spring, he didn’t regret forfeiting the
$250,000 deposit. By his estimate, the $2.5 million condo had lost far
more of its value — some $800,000 — since he agreed to purchase it. “He thought, ‘I’m losing less money walking away from my contract
deposit. I’m not going to throw good money after bad,’” said Steven
Sladkus, a partner at law firm Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman &
Herz, and the buyer’s attorney. So Sladkus was surprised to get a call from the buyer a few weeks ago
asking if the sponsor would sell him the unit after all — for the
right price.

From the August issue: Much attention has been focused lately on the flurry of lawsuits filed
by unsatisfied apartment buyers hoping to get out of their purchase
contracts.
But attorneys say there is another, under-the-radar group of buyers
looking to break their contracts and get their money back. Instead of
suing, these regretful buyers have chosen to pursue the cheaper, more
streamlined option of having their disputes mediated by the state
attorney general’s office. The number of buyers selecting this route has exploded in the past
year, leading to a backlog of paperwork in the office’s real estate
finance bureau, with buyers and developers waiting long periods of time
to find out if they will get often-substantial deposits or down
payments back. [more]

Cockroaches, rats and other critters are a common (and gross) inconvenience for New Yorkers of all ilks. But the bedbug has a unique ability to spread panic among apartment dwellers. Those afflicted with a bedbug infestation often shell out thousands of dollars to kill the bugs and, in some cases, throw out furniture just to be rid of the tiny-legged plague, the New York Times said, which is why assessing a building and a unit’s propensity for bedbugs — with experts or even specially trained dogs — has become a central part of buying a home in the city. If a new residence has a past problem with bedbug infestations that can, in some cases, kill a deal, Steven Sladkus, a real estate lawyer with Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz, said. “It’s like the dreaded mold that was killing values for a while,” Sladkus said. “People don’t want to buy into a building if they find out there are bedbugs.”

The unpredictable real estate market has increased conflicts on co-op
boards, many of which recently held their annual meetings, the New York
Times reported. Steven Sladkus, a lawyer who represents co-op and condo
boards, said that the co-op board meeting in an East Side building he
represents recently devolved into a screaming match. Sladkus said he
helped to stop a similar conflict in his own Upper East Side co-op,
where he is president, earlier this year. The disagreements are often
due to owners’ worries about rising costs or the appearance that
building projects are stalled. [more]