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DUMBO Developer Steals Electricity!
By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 11, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 11, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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As if real estate developers didn't have a bad enough rap! David Walentas, the mastermind who turned the clocktower in DUMBO into a Clocktower of luxury apartment, is accused of stealing $130,000 of electricity by rigging wires from the Clocktower to his commercial building. The Daily News' exclusive story says that the Clocktower's condo owners are suing Walentas, after finding out that the "commingling" of heat and electrical from 30 Washington Street and Clocktower actually meant more expensive electrical bills for the Clocktower residents. And this is just the latest in problems for the Clocktower: There have been leaking roofs, non-working windows, boiler issues, and more. Most impressive of Walentas's chutzpah is this:
Brockstedt also found that Walentas had an air conditioner installed on the Clocktower building's roof that served only his unit but was powered by the common area meter - and thus paid for by the condo association.
Good lord. And everyone who lives in a Trump Building - see if all the wires are leading to Mar-a-Lago!
NY magazine called Walentas's Clocktower development the "tipping point" in DUMBO development. And here's Bluejake's DUMBO series from last fall.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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