Stuy Town Owner Sued Over Low-Rent Eviction Spree

Sunday, January 11, 2009
Katherine Boniello and Sarah Ryley
New York Post

Rent-stabilized tenants of Manhattan's Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village will file a $40 million class-action lawsuit tomorrow, accusing owner Tishman Speyer of trying to evict them unfairly, according to a draft copy of the suit obtained by The Post.

Meanwhile, a separate $1 million suit filed Jan. 2 by former Tishman Speyer property manager John Scott Walsh accuses the firm of "unfavorable and discriminatory treatment" of tenants as it pushed to reach internal "quotas for getting back rent-stabilized apartments . . ."

He claims he was fired for balking at executing those efforts.

But Tishman said in a counter-claim denying the accusations that Walsh got the boot because of "several complaints of lewd conduct . . . including his reported habit of 'adjusting himself' in front of his subordinates," according to court papers.

Since its October 2006, $5.4 billion purchase of the East Side property from MetLife, Tishman Speyer has hired three law firms and a host of private eyes in a bid to evict tenants it believes have other primary homes - a violation of rent-stabilization laws.

The eviction efforts have been too broad, says the suit to be filed tomorrow in Manhattan Supreme Court by the Stuyvesant Town Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association and five tenants.

Tishman Speyer denied being too aggressive in eviction efforts. "We do our homework without violating our residents' privacy," the firm said.

Walsh could not be reached for comment.

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