Developer Haysha Deitsch is employing another tactic to finally evict the remaining elderly tenants from his Park Slope property: suing their children for $50 million.
In 2006, Deitsch bought the 130-room senior assisted living facility at 1 Prospect Park West for $40 million. He then made the controversial move to evict around 100 seniors. The remaining tenants took Dietsch to court.
Now, the Brooklyn landlord is claiming those tenants’ children are blocking his plans to evict their parents and ultimately sell the property, the New York Post reported.
“It’s just absurd. I really do feel harassed, and I think that’s the purpose of this,” defendant Joyce Singer, whose 91-year-old mother has lived there since 2010, told the Post. “This is just totally crazy. The only thing we care about is the well-being of our parents.”
Last summer, a Brooklyn judge ruled Deitsch could not evict the remaining tenants amid ongoing litigation. Deitsch has been trying to sell the property for $76.5 million since last year and the delayed shutdown stalled a deal with Sugar Hill Capital Partners. Sugar Hill, a real estate investment firm, also sued Deitsch over the property.
The facility, called Prospect Park Residence, was hit with a class action lawsuit in 2012 alleging it was operating as an unlicensed assisted living facility, according to reports.
It is currently in the hands of a temporary receiver after Deitsch did not comply with court orders to provide hot water and heat, the Post reported. [NYP] — Dusica Sue Malesevic