A bellyaching rent controlled tenant on the Upper East Side has lost his battle to raze a neighboring apartment building that he claims restricts light and air to his sprawling $100-per-month pad. Chad Ian Lieberman sued to raze the 25-story building with 246 apartments, saying it illegally constricts light and air to the four-bedroom home whose lease he assumed after his grandfather's death, NYDN reports.
It turns out the conditions Lieberman is contesting are what are responsible for his uber-inexpensive rent: Liberman's grandfather, who was living in the apartment when the nearby building was being constructed in 1999, agreed to allow his landlord (who also owned the neighboring lot) to partially build-over an air shaft in return for a reduction in rent from $687 per month to $100 per month. In short, Liberman's grandfather gave the okay and was cognizant of how it would affect the apartment. A Manhattan Supreme Court Justice used that argument to rule that the agreement was legal. Now, Lieberman's got a new problem, and it's more than being The Most Entitled New Yorker. NYDN reports the landlord is trying to hike Liberman's $100 rent, arguing that the agreement only extended to his grandfather.
· $100/month Upper East Side tenant loses suit to raze high-rise neighbor [NYDN]
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