It's the most hotly contested strip of grass over an expressway in all of Manhattan: the quarter-acre lawn between 1 Sutton Place South and the East River. The building leased the lawn from the city for $1/year back in 1939. A pretty sweet deal?until the lease expired in 1990. The co-op board decided to pretend nothing had changed, swearing all new buyers to secrecy about the lease expiration. The city eventually woke up and made plans to replace the private garden with a public park. The building filed suit to keep the space private in 2007. Our money was on their money, but it looks like we were wrong: the Post reports that the co-op board appears close to an agreement to give up the lawn to the city. The residents' lawsuit originally asked for $10 million in exchange. Will Manhattan's deepest-pocketed squatters get their dough?
· City fights residents of a Sutton Place co-op for control of park space [NYP]
· 1 Sutton Place South coverage [Curbed]
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