Ben Shaoul | No 7-Eleven

EV Grieve is reporting several East Village residents are taking Kushner Companies to housing court for failing to provide basic services like heat, hot water and a locked front door. Kusher Companies recently purchased 17 East Village properties from Ben Shaoul and since then their quality of live has rapidly deteriorated. It seems Kushner Companies are focused on the 7-Eleven being constructed on the ground floor and not much else. From the post:

The Kushner Companies officially took over control of the 17 buildings on the LES that Ben Shaoul owned for 3-plus years. For the 2 months that followed the change of ownership, Jared Kushner’s company failed to provide basic services like heat, hot water and a locked front door. The tenants filed an HP Action against Kushner and are taking him to Housing Court this week.

In the past 2-3 months under new ownership, the daily lives of the tenants in the building have been a living hell. Clearly, their focus is on getting the $35,000/month 7-11 in on the ground floor without a care for the well-being of the tenants.

The laundry list of complaints include no heat/hot water, a malfunctioning heating system, cracked walls/structural damage, an unlocked main entrance, removal of smoke detectors, low water pressure, illegal after hours work, an unavailable building super and filthy hallways/entrance. Got all that?

On April 6th, a resident of the building was robbed by 4 men who broke into her apartment while she was sleeping and stole her electronics. Residents believe the dilapidated construction site and broken security lights made the building a target for crime. Since our reporting on the incident the vulnerabilities in the structure appear to have been fixed.

Reader report: East Village tenants taking Kushner Companies to housing court [EV Grieve]

Police arrested four young men Friday night for allegedly breaking into an apartment above the 7-Eleven construction site on 11th Street at Avenue A.

The four men allegedly broke into the apartment of a sleeping woman and left with a suitcase containing her computer, iPad and other items. Neighbors believe the burglars took advantage of the exposed plywood structure and broken security light at the 7-Eleven construction site to gain access to the apartment.

A resident on 11th Street reports to us she was awoken by screams and flashlights on Friday night and quickly told her husband to call the police. She saw people on the lower roof between the 7-Eleven building and the building next door When she shouted out her window at them, the men identified themselves as NYPD. After a brief search, the police caught the suspects hiding in the nearby air shaft passage. Brief video of the investigation can be seen here.

Calls to 311 about the broken light were made. When we passed by the 7-Eleven construction site today, one of the two lights was still out.

The building was previously owned by Ben Shaoul of Magnum Real Estate Group and was recently sold to Jared Kushner of Kushner Companies.