Kushner tenant: Greenwich Village building is a death trap

Meltkraft owner says sewage leaked, electricity was ready to blow at 101 MacDougal

101 Macdougal Street (credit: Meltkraft) and Jared Kushner
101 Macdougal Street (credit: Meltkraft) and Jared Kushner

While Jared Kushner’s father-in-law has pledged to “drain the swamp,” one of the young real estate mogul’s tenants claims his Greenwich Village building is a real quagmire.

Eran Wasjwol, who ran a grilled cheese Meltkraft franchise at Kushner’s 101 Macdougal Street until this past summer, filed a lawsuit against the landlord claiming the building had a shady electrical hookup and a faulty sewage system that backed up under the restaurant’s floorboards, the New York Post reported.

Kushner Companies bought the five-story building in 2015 as part of a 16-property portfolio spread across Manhattan and Brooklyn. Kushner paid $132 million for the portfolio.

Wasjwol’s lawsuit claims Kushner was largely an absentee landlord.

“Reaching the new landlord proved very difficult,” the lawsuit says.

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According the lawsuit, the building was either stealing electricity from the mainline or from another building, causing the panini heaters to short circuit. The 96-year-old sewage system was also faulty, causing the pipes to back up and force sewage to seep up through the floor, the suit alleges.

“Feces were everywhere, forcing now-disgruntled employees to clean the space,” the lawsuit claims.

Wasjwol shut the eatery down in July, fearing the rigged electric system could result in a deadly explosion.

He is suing for $550,000, while Kushner is countersuing Wasjwol’s company for $48,000 for breaking its lease. That case is still pending.

Kushner may be spending even more time away from his properties as he is reportedly close to having a top role in the Donald Trump White House. [NYP]Rich Bockmann