57 Front at forefront of a Dumbo heavyweight fight

Back in July 2005, we reported on the 57 Front project in Dumbo by Boymelgreen. That post led to an unprecedented 45 comments, mostly by people who were in contract on a unit there. That subsequently led to the formation of a yahoo group, of which we were a part of, until we were unceremoniously dumped off the group. The reason was that all purchasers were closing ranks due to a brewing firestorm in which several units in a specific line in the building were being told that their $800K one-bedrooms were soon to become $800K studios!

That, in a nutshell, was the background. Apparently, there was an easement on the building, unbeknownst to to Shaya Boymelgreen. Now, we find out that David Walentas, the godfather of Dumbo owns the lot next to it and used the building and its' buyers as hostage in his nasty fight with Boymelgreen. Not only that, Walentas is planning on erecting a steel sculpture right in front of all the windows, unless Boymelgreen sells him a building nearby!

Ding ding..round three coming up.

Here's the fascinating New York Times article.