From the Times Ledger:
Plans to develop the RKO Keith’s Theatre are still in a holding pattern as the Federal Aviation Administration has not issued a final ruling to allow construction, but developer Patrick Thompson also faces nearly $400,000 in unpaid taxes and the potential sale of the property as a tax lien, according to city records.
But Thompson faces more hurdles from the city Department of Finance.
According to the department, Thompson did not pay any of his property taxes since January 2011. The fees come to $379,585 in property taxes, $1,900 in water bills, and $180 in additional charges.
The outstanding total balance of $381,698 means that the property is in danger of being put on the list of tax liens for sale, according to the finance department.
If the lien were to be put up for sale, anyone would be able to purchase the property for the exact amount that is outstanding at the time, the department said.
10 comments:
and the beat goes on.......
I think they can purchase the tax lien not the property. And the city has a cozy relationship with a major bank that buys all it's tax liens in bulk.
Shades of Tommy Huang all over again.
1986-2012...
trouble, trouble, trouble!
The theater is haunted and its ghosts aren't resting easy.
All who wish it harm will be pursued...BOOOOOOOO !!!
The demons of Hell are poking their forks into Donald Manes...as he slowly roasts.
He was the the first to sell out the Keith's.
Now "The Pit" yawns for Claire Shulman...whenever she's ready.
She was Manes' most adept partner in crime.
You'd better say your prayers and do the right thing Mr. Thompson and Mr. Nussbaum, et al!
BOOOOOOOO !!!
And take care not to pass beneath my chandelier.
Maybe it's time to rethink the whole project.
Preserve the landmarked spaces and incorporate them into a convention center and hotel complex.
It's ideally located near airports and highways.
If NYC uses eminent domain...in the interest of the public good for a change...maybe something decent can be salvaged from a rotton situation.
OOPS...eminent domain!
Aye, there's the rub.
If it should become city property...NYC has the legal right to undo its partial landmark status.
Anything that Nussbaum is involved with looks like it always turns out to be shady.
"Nussie" was once dubbed "Manes' bag man" by the media.
Wasn't he involved in a Time Warner scandal back in the 1980s...
narrowly avoiding going to jail?
Now he's found a safe haven at Ackerman's "Queens Tribune".
Well, here we go again!
Big thunder--little rain.
This latest turn of events hardly surprises us, though.
Now if Claire Shulman had only supported, for example, a performing arts/conference center for the Keith's theater in 1986 (while it was still in great shape) we would have seen a far different ending to this sad story.
What the community wanted, she flatly refused to consider--preferring to support Tommy Huang instead!
Her exact words (when referring to Huang) were, "Hasn't he suffered enough. He hasn't been able to build upon the site".
We hold her chiefly responsible for the eyesore that exists today.
NYC could have seized the site from notorious criminal-developer and tax deadbeat Tommy Huang early in the game.
But the Manes carousel of corruption was (and is?) still spinning so here we are.
Does Assembly Member Grace Meng have anything to say on the subject...or does she only deal with Chinese issues...as been most apparent with her office?
Ditto for Councilman Koo!
Oops...
so Thompson is in arrears for some pretty fat "cheese"!
Does this mean that his PR representative Michael Nussbaum got stiffed along with NYC?
Nah!
"Nussie" is an old hand at this kind of shit.
He's probably on a pre-paid retainer schedule.
"Cashier's checks only Patrick".
What a bunch!
Keith's present and past owner Tommy Huang seem to have some commonalities.
Tax deadbeats.
Bah!
The Thompson-Nussbaum team are all show and no blow!
Thompson is strictly a light weight and Nussbaum is just a bullshit artist.
That "theater" will sit and rot for at least another 1 1/2 years.
At that point NYC's Department of Finance can foreclose on it.
All of these grandiose projects proposed for the Flushing environs won't come to fruition...certainly not in this economy.
They'll be drastically scaled down or not built at all.
Prime example:
"Flushing Commons" on Muni Lot #1
followed by Willets Point.
No wonder Wellington Chen took a powder from Flushing to Manhattan's Chinatown.
There's no more money to be made by him in this backwater cesspool.
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