Tenants Sue Chelsea Hotel Owners After Heat Gets Cut: Lawsuit

CHELSEA, NY — The owners of the Chelsea Hotel are forcing tenants at a building connected to the historic hotel to use electric space heaters after cutting off heat, a new lawsuit says.

Tenants at the walk-up building at 229 W. 22nd St. connected to the famed hotel have sued the hotel owners, who also own their building, over the heat outages, according to the lawsuit filed Nov. 25.

An underground tunnel connecting the West 22nd Street building and The Chelsea on West 23rd Street has had equipment providing heat and hot water both buildings "for decades," the lawsuit says.

But when construction work began in that tunnel, "steam heat to both (tenants Linda Jobe's and Thomas Poss's) apartments was cut off by (the owners), during the current heating season commencing in fall 2019, without prior notice to (them)," the lawsuit says.

The two rent-stabilized tenants now have to use electric space heaters, which they say is "hazardous" due to a poorly maintained sprinkler system in a non-fireproof structure.

The lawsuit claims that heating costs have been offloaded onto tenants through electric space heating and a future metered system "without their consent, and in violation of their respective leases."

After publication of this article, however, the Department of Buildings told Patch an inspector found the owners are transitioning to electric heat through a single meter, rather than by-apartment meters.

Tenants are further are demanding rent abatements dating back to November 2013 for issues at the building, which they say is "in a dilapidated, uncleaned, vermin-infested, and distressed condition." Both tenants claim the owners have also chronically failed to clean common areas, provide extermination services for rat and moth infestations, and have left windows of vacant apartments open during winter.

Behind the West 22nd Street building, the Chelsea Hotel has been under renovations for years to be converted into a luxury hotel under owners Ira Drukier and Richard Born, who purchased the property in 2016. The hotel's remaining longtime tenants also sued the owners earlier this year to keep their rent-stabilized apartments.

The latest lawsuit claims the owners need a certification of no harassment through the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, since the West 22nd Street building is in a pilot program that requires certification for certain types of work to obtain Department of Buildings permits.

DOB slapped owners with a partial stop work order at the West 22nd Street walk-up for partially demolishing a wall without permits in August, but work ongoing at that building does not require the certification of no harassment, according to department spokeswoman Abigail Kunitz.

HPD spokesman Matt Creegan confirmed the owners don't have the certification of no harassment for the West 22nd Street building and are in the application process for one at The Chelsea itself on West 23rd Street.

Since October, Buildings inspectors have found owners have not violated the partial stop work order or done any work without permits at 229 W. 22nd St., Kunitz added.

A lawyer for the tenants, Leon Behar, did not respond to requests for comment. Owners Drukier and Born and a lawyer listed for them, James Spitzer, did not respond to requests for comment.

This article has been updated with additional information from the Department of Buildings.