Svetlana Travis, who accused Eliot Spitzer of assault earlier this month, was booted from her Upper East Side apartment in July amid neighbors’ complaints she was running an escort service.
Contor Associates – owner of 1125 Lexington Avenue at 78th Street – initiated eviction proceedings after property manager Sierra Residential found “men were entering and leaving the apartment at approximately one-hour intervals on most afternoons.”
Paul Nippes, a New Jersey businessman, was Travis’ co-signer at the apartment, DNAinfo reported. Nippes told the news website that he acted as guarantor on a lease for Travis back in 2014, because she had bad credit. He denied any involvement at 1125 Lexington Avenue, telling DNAinfo that Travis had forged his signature.
Travis was also evicted from another unit this fall, in Murray Hill, over $6,000 in unpaid rent. Nippes was listed as a co-signer on that property as well, but claims Travis forged those documents as well.
Travis accused Spitzer of having choked her in a suite at The Plaza Hotel earlier this month. Soon after, she retracted her accusation and ceased cooperating with police, before departing for Russia, her home country.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance moved to recuse himself from the assault investigation, which is currently in limbo. [DNAinfo] – Ariel Stulberg