Landlord of 43 Essex Street Notches Stop-work and Partial Vacate Orders
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Earlier this month – about a week after tenants filed a harassment lawsuit against Paul Galasso – the controversial new landlord of 43 Essex was slapped with a full stop-work order. According to department of Buildings records, the compulsory halt in activity is due to illegal construction, namely un-permitted plumbing and electrical work.
And on a related note, Galasso also notched a partial vacate order on the property thanks to allegedly negligent construction in one of the apartments (#9). The edict indicates that damage was caused to the ceiling in the unit (#7) directly below.
That’s not the only problem here, of course. Dangers are myriad. Tenants claim that there are huge holes in the walls and ceilings, even leading one to see the bedroom a floor below. Not to mention the allegations that the owners are using the air shaft as a makeshift garbage chute. In addition, the apartments lack heat and hot water, forcing the tenants to boil water for showers — an indignity compounded by the fact that the building also lacks gas.
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What’s happening here at 43 Essex is really a shame. The tenement was previously in the hands of the Zerling family, the proprietors behind G&S Sporting Goods. That tenure lasted seven decades.
Galasso purchased the property last fall for $6.9 million.
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