Take a swig a that kent.

Only someone with an IQ lower than their shoe size would buy a condo at the Sheffield.

The tenants are so pathetic, trying everything to get a sweetheart deal from the developer. How sad, how pathetic the tenants are, how entertaining!

The Sheffield condo conversion is a relative bargain compared to comparable super-luxury conversions in the Columbus Circle neighborhood. $2,000 a foot for the Sheffield is not bad compared to what you couldn't even buy if you wanted to at 15 CPW. The Sheffield kitchens/bathrooms/amenities, if you didn't know, are as good (probably better) than 15 CPW, far better than Time Warner Center, and probably are at least as good as any new construction in the City.

These tenants are going nowhere with this rent administrator ploy, other than wasting their legal fees. The fact is, the tenants lost their battle months ago for an "insider" price - they would have been better off buying their apartments when the black book came out and then flipping their apartments for double the price. I wonder if they know that they will be responsible for SWIG's legal fees, too? SWIG is going to be on a boat getting a suntan and counting his millions when these tenants are digging into their pockets for loose change to pay the lawyers. This might have worked in the 1980's - not today, not a chance.

The tenants are so pathetic, trying everything to get a sweetheart deal from the developer. How sad, how pathetic the tenants are, how entertaining!

Keep in mind these tenants won in court months ago and are benefitting from that decision while the developer has to face many obstacles to finish construction. Regarding the comment correlating a purchaser of space at the sheffield as someone whose "IQ is lower than their shoe size" I really don't find choosing an apartment located a block from columbus circle with gorgeous views at a lesser price than many surrounding residential spaces as a decision which should call someones intelligence into question, contrary I not only applaud the purchase but see it as a potentiallly intelligent investment.

Does anyone know that the "pathetic" tenants have a lein on the building?? Swig that!!

The court case the tenants "won" only refers to the "23" market rate tenants (now down to the mid-teens) who merely won the right to stay at RIDICULOUS rents (defined as non-unconsciounable increases, or "market", which will surely be thousands more than you or I can afford). So my $2,500 a month rental is now $7,000. Yea. Big victory for me. As for the "lien" on the building, the poster is certainly delusional. What the heck could a tenant have a lien on the building for? Surely, the thousands of tenants trying to steal a buck from a developer would have tried this trick before. These tenants are sad, almost shameful, but it is funny to watch them try, try again to somehow gain in the developer's profits.

The Sheffield 57 is a well-priced (relatively) conversion. It seems like a good buy in a difficult market.

silly goose! the 7A was never used in Manhattan during a condo-conversion...this type of action is only really reserved for slums...and it is not "a tenant" who has the lein, it is almost 50 tenants...maybe you should think that maybe even more tenants will do this in the future, as we are paving the way. The point is, we should not have lived here through the construction.. the bldg. was a slum for over 2 years ..developers can do what they like but not with people in the building..maybe now this type of abuse has a chance to stop..it is not about money, rent stabies have no reason to leave. Could anyone think about social responsibility for just a moment, instead of GREED.

it is the tenants at the Sheffield who are sullied by GREED. let's see... you live in a crappy rental building and then poof! you have the luxury of a billion dollar conversion and you get the benefits for Nothing! Sounds like a windfall to me! 50 tenats cannot lien a building - 1000 tenants cannot lien a building. sounds like some tenant-lawyer is infesting his unsophisticated clients with kool-aid (or vodka). Hope their legal bills aren't too high, they are getting scammed by their lawyers. Someone should consider a malpractice action against the tenant's attorneys. Social responsibility means giving due respect to property rights. These rent stabies stand to lose a fortune in legal fees. Hope the kool-aid tases good.

The Sheffield tenants are going to lose nothing more than their time, effort and money. If they want to throw their money down the drain (instead of paying market rents), then G-D bless them. This case is a sure loser, though, I feel badly for them, so much misdirected passion. They should plant a tree.

I don't know anything about their claims, but I will say that the Sheffield apartments look good - the finishes are top-notch. Not sure about the guy that said that $2,000 a foot is affordable, but I guess compared to its competition it is a good deal.

I don't know enough about the legal dispute that is going on between the developer and the tenants. As far as I understand, they have a rent stabilized contract and this right should be respected and the tenants should treated with respect (but also the developer). It should be possible to find a solution that is okay for the developer and for the tenants.

On the otherside I think that the apartments are well done, the amenities are excellent and so also the location. For this reason I recently bought a condo at the Sheffield. What I don't like is the notorious delay for closing. In other words, I don't get a reliable date. Does someone know what is the reason for this (mal)practice?

Isn't it true that a lien appears on the title during a property search? Could this be a problem during closings in the future? How would banks feel about it?
This landlord tenant dispute is getting out of control!
Didn't anyone know how angry these tenants were..how could something like this have happened? It does not matter how nice the new apartments are in the Sheffield, if you will not be able to close on them.
Anyone know what would happen in a re-finance..same problem??

I thought social responsibility was about Human Rights, not about property rights..

Tenants cannot lien a building. That simple. It can't be done under law.

That said, I am a rent stabie tenant at Sheffield and it doesn't mean we can't try. Everyone is making a lot of money out of this conversion, why not us? We have a right to stay here, and Swig should be forced to pay us at least half of his profits for MY apartment. If he is going to sell my apartment for $1,000,000, I want $500,000. He can't expect us to go away - if he does not pay us, we won't go away. This is America - deal with it!

It is silly to think that a group of tenants could lien a building and stop a developer from closing. I wish it were true, but sadly it is just not New York State/City law. There were some delays at the Sheffield in the beginning, but closings now are going at a really good clip - 10 or so a week. Just check the DOB websight.

the lien just happened late on Fri 05/30.. check it out on Monday and u will see it is true! The same Judge signed it as the 7A..it all goes together. Maybe no-one in NYC real estate saw this before, but that is how a 7A proceeding does work. Wonder if the Judge will put the city in charge of the mgt. of the bldg? What a mess!

a lien on a building does not affect closings on individual condo units. once the condo declaration is filed, the units are separate independent entities. sounds like some lawyer is scamming these poor tenants for mucho legal bills. a shame. the sponsor attorney had it right - they are fighting against something (the conversion) that already happened. these tenants must feel like suckers or be really dumb for continuing to throw good money after something they can't do anything about.

#9 I am responding particularly to your post and to all the other at large!
the tenants in the Sheffield have been sullied by the greed of the developer and their apparent ineptness to
run a development of this magnitude -- and I am very pleased the tenants took this step and an administrator
will be appointed by the court to now run the job site and rectify the issues.

Sullied in this case means -- their health has been impacted -- the quality of the life has been impacted
-- their right to peace and quiet -- their professional and private life has been impacted -- all impacted

What has gone on at the Sheffield is symptomatic of the lacks Department of Buildings regulations
being enforced and Mr. Bloomberg should answer for that.The buck should stop at his door.

On a micro view, the crane toppling's are a result of developers/DOB not giving a dam about safety for the
workers or the community and they are a visible example of the chaos that reigns through out the system
and in order for the building industry to function "as a good neighbor" the building department has to be
completely overhauled and the Mayor has to make that commitment and if anyone should be sued let's start
with the Mayor for dereliction of duty and wrongful deaths -- there is a family today in Staten Island that mourning
a great loss.

We the people are not goods and chattel to be herded for the convenience of the profiteers
and social responsibility does not solely mean giving due respect to property rights. #9
Property does not come at the expense of Human Rights!

The Sheffield under Rose Management was a fine well run building, I know because I
had friends living there for many years -- the spa on the top floor was a wonderful place
and by the way is now filled with bath tubs and other miscellaneous rubbish removed from the work site --
I have visited the Sheffield during conversion and to put it bluntly it was and still is a scandal -- and Mr. Swig
should be truly embarrassed at the disaster he and his associates have created at 322 West 57th Street,
and I believe he should be barred for ever again working in the real estate industry, I am of the opinion he should
be in a country club or a boat as one person suggested, for an extended period, not necessarily of his own choosing!

I was almost run down by a rubbish container on one visit to the Sheffield and the tenants had to endure all that construction
mayhem where there was no limit on work hours which sometimes went on until late into night --- which simply put was unfair to
subject anyone both tenants and workers to a project that clearly did not have any reasonable skilled oversight.

People are entitled to a safe home and workers are entitled to a safe working environment -- there was/is a
great lack of professional oversight in the building -- there are constant complaints of flooding which the
result will be mold and mildew -- illegal asbestos removal, all which needs to be answered for and a great
destruction of the quality of life of which everyone is entitled -- the action the tenants took has created a
precedence and for that I applaud them -- well done tenants of The Sheffield -- I also find it ironic that this travesty
of blunders is taking place next to the bright and shining example of an environmental jewel, The Hearst building.

Someone from the building send this to me. I currently use the Sheffield as a "city apartment". I was never approached about signing a petition. No matter, I wouldn't have sign it anyways. I hate putting my name on things just to complicate matters worse. I think its fair if the developer has rightfully purchased the building at market price and now he would like to increase its value. I remember being approached to buy my unit, but as a second apartment it didn't make sense to spend all of that money. So I am just riding the wave until we have to leave, which to be honest, is fair. I read about the developer, Kent Swig, and I don't think he has bad intentions. He is a businessman doing business. I hate to be grouped with some of the tenants who are acting like entitled jerks, just because they happened to be renting there. We are renters, we are not entitled to anything.

Comment #18 is truly foolish.
#1 - the Sheffield conversion is going rather smoothly. The units are selling in far excess of the market and at extremely high prices. I understand that the lower portion of the building is almost completely sold out.

#2 - You make the idiotic assumption that the mere act of making a motion to the court for an administrator means that it is actually going to happen. If decides that the simple act of tenant complaints, without proof and WITH an agenda demands an administrator, I'll eat my foot. So silly, so misguided.

#3 - the fact that she compares her plight as a Sheffield tenant to the families of those who lost their life in the crane accident is appalling. She is not a champion of workers rights, building safety and the problems with the DOB. She should be ashamed.

#4 - Kent Swig is known througout the industry as a man of integrity and someone who donates MILLIONS of dollars a year to many different charities. He is also supposed to be a genuine menche - shame on you for trying to sully his name as he pursues his professional craft in accordance with the law. You should, again, be ashamed for trying to steal a buck from someone else. Go to work and actually make some money for yourself.

#5 - Repeatedly calling a building a "travesty" does not make it so. A billion dollars worth of sales from the richest people in the City cannot be wrong. The building is a success, the developers have done a wonderful job - WELL DONE - and we should be proud that there are developers with the vision and wherewithall like Mr. Swig.

The tenants who are behind this scam should be ashamed of themselves. #18 is misguided, at best, and delusional and a fool at worst. This is one of the good guys, and one of the good conversions in the City.

The Rose building was a piece of shit. The Sheffield actually looks like that it is a true luxury condominimum - the fact that Swig could pull this off with these foolish tenants still living there is both brilliant and genious.

Comment #14..

Just curious, why would you be entitled to profits? To be honest, you sound like an idiot.

Most of you people bashing such a project (or others) sound rediculous. I don't understand why you have to bitch and moan about everything that goes on in regards to development. Honestly, I think you are just jealous that everyone around you is making money and your just renting an apartment.

Get off your a$$ and get a real job (not freelancing or whatever you call it.. A REAL JOB).

rent stabilization is wrong. why should people monopolize space at under market rates?? below what it cost to maintain the apartments for any landlord. are these people more deserving then other hard working upper middle class people who can't afford Manhattan? in other words how come some people who make over $100k a year are allowed steep "discounts" while new people come in to NYC and are forced to move to Brooklyn?! because too many people are allowed to game the system.

The Sheff is unparalleled in the level of service and amenities it offers. I bought here and am loving it! It will prove to be a fantastic investment worth every penny. I moved here from nearby so am very familiar with the neighborhood and project. I just hope now the retail across the street improves.

#22 says rent stabies do not work, #23 says rent stabies are $100k plus earners...$500K in a payout would not replace even a studio apt, and then we would have to move away and not have our 100K jobs. No stabie is going anywhere...where is our pool??

rent stabilization does not mean to own an apt. or to have the right to get the money for buying an apt. You should have the right to rent a similar apt with similar amenities for the same price and for the duration of the rent stabilization. For how long is the rent stabilized? Comment 24: How long did you wait for closing?

As a proud Sheffield rent stablized tenant, I can only say that while the renovation of the building is quite lovely, we are entitled to a piece of the pie! Swig is going to make a fortune off of our building, and if we can leverage him to pay us money to be quiet, then so be it. The courts are slanted in favor of tenants, and shame on us if we do not take advantage of it.

We will win on all sides - we will live a "brand new" building with unbelievable amenities and Swig will pay us to drop our lawsuits. Win-win.

I understand that a 7A rent administrator is usually only used for slum buildings, but it can't hurt to ask. If we win, then we will run the building and Swig will have to pay!

Question to an earlier poster: How can the courts make US responsible for Swig's legal fees? What if we don't pay? Our legal fees are expensive enough, and our numbers are dropping - I can't imagine a landlord-tenant judge making us pay a rich developer.

Swig better watch out - we will file lawsuit after lawsuit until he pays us to shut up! As #14 says, this is AMERICA!

#27 rent stabies get to have the apartment for the rest of their lives..some people in the Sheffield have been there almost 30 years rent stabied! Under some conditions they can even give the apt. to their children. Sheffield stabies did not need Mr. Swig's help the win the real estate lottery. As a matter of fact we are still waiting for the bldg. to be put back together, pool, driveway, park..we had all of those things before...I do agree that parts of the bldg. did need to be re-done, but I thought the previous lobby and especially mailroom, was more elegant, but that is just a matter of taste/personal

rent stabies only get to stay for the rest of their lives if they make less than $175,000 a year (documented) and the rent is less than $2,000 a month. there are thousands of rent stablized tenants who do not meet this criteria but lie, cheat, steal in order to remain rent stablized. it is these people who are users who should be forced to pay market rents. The conversion of this building is a home-run for the rent stablized tenants - it is the illegal tenants who must have recourse for their illegal fight to stay in the building.

Comment #28- I find your sense of entitlement and litigious attitude despicable. It's clear your entire sense of ownership is skewed by referring to Sheffield as "our" building. You don't own it, you're a renter and therefore your rights of "ownership" are nil. If you believed in the building so strongly, then you should have purchased your apartment in the begining when you had the right to. With the rise in value from what Swig has added the the property- THAT would be your "piece" of the pie! What nerve you have!

Until your comment, and that of #14, I had some empathy for you having to live through the construction. Clearly though, the driving force is greed and I hope that Swig DOES come after you for his legal fees. Maybe, if you can't pay, he'll have the chance to evict you and all will be right with the world.

You say "this is America"- I say this is what's WRONG with America! A rent stabilized lease should not be viewed as a winning lottery ticket and as a taxpayer I'm tired of having to fund your frivolous lawsuit, much less your apartment. Have some decency!

It would be a nightmare if the rent stabilized tenants ran/managed the building. At least Swig/ Terra Holdings has experience managing. If the rent stabilized and controlled tenants would get over themselves and stop creating problems and let Swig finish all would be better for the new owners. They should be happy they won the NYC housing lottery by being at the right place at the right time and therefore having gotten discounted rents for so long. I don't think Swig owes you a dime. If you are making over $80k then I hardly think you are deserving of any housing subsidies.

#32 that is nice, but that is not what the law says.. .stay tuned our lawyer says article #2 is going to be posted shortly..believe me there is more to know..people have no idea what went on in here, but they are going to find out...and it won't be pretty.

the law says that a rent administrator can be assigned for a slum landlord who is PROVEN to be neglecting the building. what a reach it is to try to apply this to a condo conversion. these tenants have been saying "watch what we do next" for 2 years and they have accomplished NOTHING except being the laughingstock of all other tenants association. What a pathetic group this is, a real joke, they make me embarressed to belong to my tenants association. ALL TALK, NO ACTION. They are suckers of the worst kind - they don't even know that everyone is laughing at them and calling them fools.

Hang all developers or was it lawyers?

William Shakespeare

Go tenants! By the way for you real estate sharks the
tenants do have "rights of possession" under the law.
What part of rental laws don't you understand?.
Condo's are going broke and LL's will Love renters and
by the way most NY folk rent that is your Nurses,Store managers,truck drivers,EMT workers,waiters,Transit
Emlpoyees Door men Security gaurds,in short valuable employees.

tenants have right of possession (if they are a LEGAL rent stabilized tenant), but they do not have the right to scam their way to a developer's profits mereby because they have a rent stablized lease. These tenants are really slime, the worst of the worst, they should be ashamed of themselves for standing in the way of decent, honest development. sit back, shut up, and enjoy the benefits of this building's makeover - i wish i was so lucky that my building spent a hundred million dollars to renovate my building without having to contribute a dime. These renters must have been raised by people with no values, haven't you learned not to look a gift horse in the mouth?

The real Deal" has a new article out dated 06/03/08
called "Surf's Up for Swig" it says the Sheffield is a public relations disaster, and it also says the tenants were very effective..I do not think anyone is laughing about
what the tenants association has done..members of the city council have personally told us we are the most effective and powerful tenants association in the history of the city!

Most effective association in the history of the City? By accomplishing nothing? Good work!

hahaha, #39 has it right, those tenants are throwing their money down a wishing well. I read the article, it is generally positive to Swig. What an accomplishment what this man did with lower Manhattan. I'll take a $400 million dollar profit on a real estate deal any day.

What a nice article! Good for Kent. Congratulations!

how would the poster know this if he wasnt an Employee of Swigs sheffield57 ??

>>The court case the tenants "won" only refers to the "23" market rate tenants (now down to the mid-teens) who merely won the right to stay at RIDICULOUS rents

#42, the impact of the Sheffield housing court decision is common knowledge in the industry - remember, legal decisions are public documents. It is also under appeal.

anybody using the sheffield as a second city apartment was asked to leave.Only stabilized poeple can be left or the holdouts.Stabilized people were investigated for second homes and apartments and were sued for eviction for violating stabilization .
Most of the posts here seem to be from Swig agents including the ridiculous "i want 500k if swig makes a million" if your stabilized you get nothing and he wont pay you to leave; and he doesnt have to give you a discount.
The position of Swig has aways been that the tenants giving him trouble just want money. Never mind the deplorable conditions that exist going through a major renovation.
Total BS posts by someone employed by the developer .

>>Someone from the building send this to me. I currently use the Sheffield as a "city apartment". I was never approached about signing a petition. No matter, I wouldn't have sign it anyways. I hate putting my name on things just to complicate matters worse. I think its fair if the developer has rightfully purchased the building at market price and now he would like to increase its value. I remember being approached to buy my unit, but as a second apartment it didn't make sense to spend all of that money

so i see someone who is just a casual poster here just happened to go down to the courthouse, paid the fees, to check court documents to see that some of those people left.

>>#42, ... legal decisions are public documents. It is also under appeal.

So, what happened with this hearing? Did it occur on June 19?

To Carol #3
"SWIG is going to be on a boat getting a suntan and counting his millions when these tenants are digging into their pockets for loose change to pay the lawyers."
Carol, is that the prison boat parked in the Verazzano Narrows? Just asking!

Hi, silly gooses, I have just heard that THE SHEFFIELD57 is in foreclosure. Is it true or or is it just a Grimm fairy tale?

I moved into the Sheffield in early spring and LOVE my apartment and understand the work that is currently being done in the building. In time, it will only get better!

lets hope that the renovations of this building get done
in under 5 years...the big amenities have not been started....We have been living in a real mess for about 2 years already. It has been a nightmare.

This building was sold in 2005. Give or take a year to design and develop a plan, this building has only been under construction for less than 2 years. #50 is more tenant shill!

It's bad enough to see all of these people whinning and complaining about the city, the DOB and developers but then #18 brings toppling cranes and non-caring officials into this. That has to be one of the most moranic statements yet. #18 is obviously a bidder person who has no idea that it's people like Kent Swig and their vision that have made this city what it is.
Some of you want to be paid to shut up? That is pathetic. People who are upset because they are not "getting their piece of the pie". Try going out and working for it.
The bottom line is Sheffield57 is going to be a fantastic place to live and we are very happy with our decision to live there.

The intercoms were cut off in this building in the spring of 2006.
Heavy demolition started in here in late Aug. 06. It is two years.
Actually, it is not the tenants who lie..it is the Swig shills who
insist on twisting the truth. We will not be quiet, not even for money....we still have lots more to say!

Does anybody now anything about the past history of swig or the tenants attorney Grimble and LoGuidice? Is their history a good or bad one?

#52,
The intercom works fine.
Use it without a problem day in and day out!

Grimble and LoGuidice fleece their clients for all of their money, and then don't accomplish anything and then their clients end up worse than they were before... and broke. The tenants association doesn't have a lot more to say, because our bank accounts are dry and we are not putting up more cash to accomplish very little.

The tenants association has lots more to say when the case
goes to a jury trial. We have plans for some other things we will be doing as well.

August 22, 08 the DEP wins a case in court for the Sheffield
Tenants, who were exposed to the illegal demolition of the ASBESTOS filled popcorn ceilings that were scraped off while we were living here. There were hundreds of thousands of square feet of this, all illegally removed. See violation #50039875M. Swig was fined $4800..
but that is only the beginning of the troubles this will bring...
I wish this never happened, because the health risks will last our entire lives.

Those tenants that complain so much about their rights constantly do damage to the building. They write ¨hate¨on the elevator wood panels, they provoke water spills, among other things. How uneducated and corrupted they are that they don't respect us, the buyers, who have nothing to do with what's going on between them and Mr. Swig. They fight for their rights but they don't respect ours.