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$4.5M Lawsuit Over UWS Neighbor's Backyard Hotel, Fence
By
John Del Signore
Published Jul 27, 2009
Modified Jul 27, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jul 27, 2009
Modified Jul 27, 2009
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Jeffrey and Michelle Feig's charming Central Park West apartment has gone from urban oasis to noisy nightmare, and someone's got to pay. In a $4.5 million lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, the Feigs accuse the neighbor, Michel Kadoe, of turning his backyard into a "shantytown," by renting out the garden apartment in his brownstone to unruly tourists.
The Feigs are also upset because Kadoe put up a fence blocking their nice view of other neighbors' backyards. Their lawyer calls it "an F-U fence," and Michelle Feig tells the Post, "I walk through my apartment 900 times a day and pass the window and fence 900 times a day. I feel victimized in my own home." But Michel Kadoe counters, "This is not a fence—this is a 4-foot screen so I can have some privacy in my life."
He also denies running a hotel, but the apartment is listed on this website as a "vacation apartment rental" with one bedroom that sleeps six, and another vacation website features a glowing testimonial from "five crazy Canadian girls [who] were tickled pink with the accommodations." It's illegal for property owners to use residential units as hotels, and in January one TV news show stalked an illegal hotel owner on the UWS—so Kadoe should definitely be on the lookout for Fox 5's John Deutzman!
Tagged
brownstone
F-U fence
hotel
lawsuit
Upper West Side
vacation rental
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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