You Mosque Be Kidding: Housing Court Tosses Back-Rent Lawsuit Against El-Gamal
By Zeke Turner November 12, 2010 4:01 pm
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The least of Park51 developer Sharif El-Gamal’s concerns is a lawsuit with the landlord of his former office over $39,000 in supposed unpaid rent, especially now that a New York City Housing Court judge has thrown the case out, according to The Real Deal.
“You know, the real estate business is a very tough business, and you have to be patient and persistent, and aggressive,” Mr. Gamal told The Observer in August, sitting in his former office. “Thank God I have all those qualities.”
Mr. El-Gamal’s SoHo Properties was leasing space on the sixth floor of 552-556 Broadway, between Spring and Prince, for $7,100 per month from landlord Royal Crospin, until the last day of summer, Sept. 20. Mr. Crospin is now suing the developer for $39,000, including $18,000 per month in default charges that Mr. Crospin wants from Mr. El-Gamal.
The developer’s lawyers say that the landlord did not serve the default notice properly through overnight mail, and therefore the charges can’t be collected. Mr. Crospin plans to take the matter to civil court. “We have no doubt we will prevail,” wrote the developer’s lawyer in an email to The Real Deal.
zturner@observer.com
