UPDATED, 5:30 p.m., Feb. 15: Spitzer Enterprises boss and former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer is under investigation by the NYPD after a woman accused him of choking her in a room at The Plaza Hotel.
The alleged victim, Svetlana Travis, has since changed her story and stopped cooperating with police, saying she was uninterested in pressing charges, the New York Post reported.
Police responded to an 8 p.m. 911 call from Travis, who allegedly had told the dispatcher she’d had a breakdown and had cut her wrists. Spitzer greeted officers at the door, telling them “Everything’s fine,” according to the Post.
Officers left, telling the 911 dispatcher to call back Travis, who told them that she no longer needed help, the Post reported. They returned anyway, but found she’d left the room. Officers observed broken glass and blood stains, the Post reported.
According to the tabloid’s account, Travis then returned to the room. Police called EMS who took her to Mount Sinai hospital, where she allegedly told medics that Spitzer had attacked her.
“There is no truth to the allegation,” a spokesperson for Spitzer told the Post.
Travis changed her account in follow-up interviews with police, the Post reported. She boarded a plane Sunday night for Russia, using a ticket she had purchased in advance, the newspaper said.
Spitzer resigned as governor in 2008 amid a prostitution scandal. In 2014 he took control of Spitzer Enterprises, the development firm created by his father Bernard Spitzer.
In April 2015, Spitzer sold the Crown Building at 730 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan to Jeff Sutton and General Growth Properties for $1.78 billion, a record for the highest price per square foot ever paid for an entire New York office building.
His firm is currently building three towers on the Williamsburg waterfront at 416-420 Ken Avenue, a $700 million project comprised of 846 rental apartments. He selected Eran Chen of ODA New York to design the project.
After his father Bernard’s death, the former governor transferred interests in 985 Fifth Avenue — where he lived while serving as governor — and an $88 million Hudson Yards development site purchased in 2013. [NYP] – Ariel Stulberg