Brodsky Organization Sues Over Turtle Bay Project

The developers behind an East Side condo tower have picked a fight with one of New York’s master builders.

Joseph Stavrach’s Triangle Assets and David Halberstam of Bruklyn Builders have been wreaking havoc on the Brodsky Organization’s landmarked Beaux Arts apartment building in Turtle Bay as he works to build a glassy 47-story condo tower next door, the Brodskys claim.

Triangle Assets and Bruklyn Builders are building a razor-thin, 470-foot-tall condo tower at 303 East 44th Street with 131 apartments. But the Brodskys claim that the construction has damaged their building next door at 307 East 44th Street and harmed their residents, according to a lawsuit they filed in New York Supreme Court Thursday.

The Brodskys claim that their neighbors have been doing drilling work without an excavation plan approved by the Department of Buildings, causing cracks in the walls and foundation of their property. The drilling caused so much debris and air pollution that one of Brodsky’s tenants had to relocate his family to a hotel, they claim.

The Brodskys allege they found the developers’ contractors taking apart their building’s sidewalk shed, and say they also found vibration monitors and crack gauges secretly installed on their property without their permission.

Triangle and Bruklyn continue to “forge ahead with [their] project in complete disregard for the safety of [Brodsky’s] property and residents,” attorneys for the Brodsky Organization wrote in their lawsuit.

Benjamin Stavrach, COO of Triangle, said he had not yet read the lawsuit. “Any work being done on that site is in compliance with DOB regulations,” he said. A representative for Halberstam could not be immediately reached for comment.

The Brodskys are seeking an injunction halting any dangerous work next door, as well as judgments for trespassing and other violations totaling more than $1 million.

The Brodskys are one of New York’s dynastic development families with decades of building experience, while Halberstam is a relative unknown.

He started Bruklyn Builders in 2019 after owning his own general contractor business for more than 10 years, according to his LinkedIn. He’s developing a 56-unit residential building in Williamsburg at 62 North First Street, and reportedly built a single-family home in Marine Park that caused a stir in the neighborhood.

Triangle Assets redeveloped the 10 Jay Street office building in Dumbo, in a joint venture with Glacier Global Partners in 2019.

Property records show that Triangle Assets bought the development site at 303 East 44th Street for $16 million in 2011, filing construction plans in 2015.

The confrontation with the Brodskys dates back to last summer, when the developers asked for a license granting permission onto their property in connection with work on the superstructure of his tower.

But the Brodskys say the draft agreement was woefully incomplete and the developers didn’t even have approved DOB plans, so they refused to sign. That’s when Triangle and Bruklyn went to court and filed what’s known as an 881 proceeding, asking a judge to order the Brodskys to grant him access to do the necessary safety work.

The Brodskys allege the developers rushed to file their motion and then sought an adjournment to drag things out.

“Defendant’s actions were a thinly veiled delay tactic to allow it more time to obtain DOB approvals,” their attorneys wrote.