Samy Mahfar Sells 210 Rivington Street to Ariel Soudry for $12M
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We broke news last week that controversial landlord Samy Mahfar had ditched one of his flashpoint Lower East Side properties – 210 Rivington. Confirmation of the sale arrived yesterday afternoon.
Indeed, public records confirm our scoop that the Soudry family (Ariel and father Abraham) – under the corporate shell “210 Rivington A.S. Realty LLC” – purchased the now-upscaled corner property for $12.5 million. The transaction is a $5 million windfall for Mahfar, who continues to benefit at the expense of tenants.
Samy Mahfar (aka SMA Equities) snapped up 210 Rivington Street in June 2013 for $7.6 million. In two short years, he allegedly harassed tenants to the breaking point, allegedly exposing them to dangerous lead levels several times the federal legal limit.
Embattled tenants shouldn’t find solace in this deal, though. Soudry’s track record is equally shady (his father purchases the properties and he manages under Better Living Properties). And not just for harassment. Ariel and his wife collected Medicaid benefits even though they had $2 million in the bank, a New Jersey vacation home, and a Range Rover. This was back in 2010, when the couple “canceled their own health insurance, pretended to be poor and used $59,000 in government benefits.”
Meanwhile, tenants of 210 Rivington are still amidst legal proceedings against Mahfar for harassment and hazardous living conditions. In total, four buildings – collectively the Mahfar Tenants’ Alliance – are concurrently suing the guy.
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