E Village School Building Fixes Blocked For De Blasio Donor: Suit

EAST VILLAGE, NY — An East Village hedge-funder is behind the city blocking renovations and redevelopment of a former school building that has been vacant for two decades, a new lawsuit claims.

Gregg Singer, who owns the former P.S. 64 and CHARAS/El Bohio Community Center building on East 10th Street, filed a lawsuit against Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city's Department of Buildings alleging the city has blocked building permits for the property to please wealthy donor Aaron Sosnick, who has eyes on purchasing the property, the lawsuit says.

Singer has long wanted to turn the vacant building into dorm rooms, which the Department of Buildings has said violates the city's "Dorm Rule." Following cracks found in the facade of the building earlier this year, the city issued a full vacate order. Politicians rallied after the February facade flurry — calling the deteriorating "eyesore," "demolition by neglect" continuing the longtime call for it to be returned to a community facility.

"The de Blasio administration continues to act like a tyrannical regime — thwarting all of my attempts to develop and renovate the building, while simultaneously charging me for my purported 'failures to maintain' the property," Singer wrote in court documents dated September 9. "These Orwellian tactics are now being used to illegally wrest the building away from me for reasons wholly unrelated to any legitimate state objective."

Singer has previously told Patch the February incident was the "first step in [de Blasio's] quest" to acquire the building through eminent domain, which the Mayor has previously expressed interest in.

The lawsuit, first reported by the New York Post, is the latest in an ongoing feud dating back to the late 1990s, when Singer purchased the property in an auction from the city.

Court documents say Sosnick, who owns a penthouse next door, has been trying to buy the property through realtor Paul Wolf — who also reportedly represented a mystery buyer of the nearby Boys' Club of New York building, which was believed to be Sosnick, though Wolf has denied it. Wolf has been emailing Singer directly and through representatives to buy the vacant property since the mid-2000s, court docs show.

"The motivations here are very obvious and clear," Singer's spokeswoman Nicole Epstein said.

Sosnick, who has donated to local organizations against the dorm development and several local politicians, according to court documents, did not immediately respond to comment. Wolf did not immediately respond to comment either.

When reached for comment, City Hall deferred to city departments.

"DOB maintains a robust standard of fairness and equity when reviewing any proposed project, including those from Mr. Singer. We have never harassed this individual, nor done so at the direction of the Mayor," buildings spokesman Andrew Rudansky said.

A Law Department spokesman said, "None of Mr. Singer’s previous cases have been substantiated in court. His state lawsuit lacked merit and was dismissed, and we’re moving to dismiss his federal case. We’re carefully reviewing this new complaint and will respond further in the litigation,” referencing previous lawsuits Singer has filed against the city with similar claims.

Epstein, disputed the state lawsuit was dismissed on merits.

"We'll finally be getting a decision on merits, which means the mayor cannot dodge this bullet forever," she said. The federal case is still pending.