Well, it was the good life while it lasted.
Three squatters were removed by police from an Upper East Side building owned by designer-to-the-stars Richard Stark, the co-founder of Chrome Hearts, known for its black clothes and silver jewelry worn by the likes of Jay Z and Bella Hadid.
The New York Post reports that as of Friday, chargers were not filed against the two men and a woman who were found in the more than 5,000-square-foot townhouse at 159 E. 64th Street, and it is not clear how long the squatters had been making the building their home.
A original Chrome Hearts boutique, which opened in 1996, was located on the bottom floor of the four-story building, and has been closed for about 10 years. The building has been empty for about the same amount of time, the paper reports.
The home, which was on the market for $14 million in 2013 before being taken off about a year later, features four bedrooms and four bathrooms as well as its own courtyard, according to the website Zillow. On Friday, fallen leaves were obscuring the entrances to the building, and the ground floor had no furniture in at all, according to the Post.
Laurie Lynn and Richard Stark and the townhouse on East 64th Street.
Neighbors told the paper the empty home had become an eyesore on the block, with notices from utility companies piling up outside.
“We don’t like abandoned buildings on our street,” 82-year-old neighbor Joel Mindel told the paper. “It’s a threat.”
Reps for Chrome Hearts, which has three stores in New York City including one nearby on Madison Avenue, as well as others in Aspen, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Honolulu, Miami and St. Barth, said they were not aware of the arrests or the police activity at the home, according to the paper.
Other stars seen wearing Chrome Hearts clothing include Cher, Kanye West and Elton John.
[New York Post] — Vince DiMiceli