Meyer Chetrit, a developer from the prominent Chetrit family in Manhattan real estate, has been indicted on felony charges related to tenant harassment. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleges that Chetrit targeted elderly rent-regulated tenants in Chelsea over a five-year period.
According to Bragg and Jocelyn Strauber, commissioner of the city’s Department of Investigation, Chetrit “waged a campaign of harassment” against two tenants in their seventies with the aim of forcing them out so the building could be sold. Bragg stated: “From winters without heat and unrepaired roofs causing leaks and ceiling collapses, these New Yorkers were forced to live in uninhabitable conditions.”
Chetrit, along with West Paramount LLC and The Chetrit Group, faces two counts of harassment of a rent-regulated tenant in the first degree. This charge is classified as a class E felony and carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison. However, nonviolent offenders with no prior felony convictions may be eligible for alternative sentencing options.
A lawyer representing Chetrit did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Court records indicate that he has pled not guilty.
The district attorney’s office also mentioned an unnamed codefendant who has been indicted but has yet to appear in court.
The alleged harassment took place at 117-119 West 26th Street in Chelsea, where the tenants have lived since the 1980s. After purchasing the building in 2005, Chetrit and his codefendant reportedly failed to complete its conversion from commercial lofts to residential housing. The apartments are designated as “interim multiple dwellings” under oversight by the city’s Loft Board.
The DA’s office further reports that residents endured extended periods without heat, a collapsed ceiling, and loss of elevator service since September 2023. That same year, part of an unused commercial section collapsed, resulting in a partial vacate order for the building.
In addition to these criminal charges, Chetrit is involved in several civil lawsuits. He faces allegations that he is attempting to shield assets to avoid paying a $132 million judgment owed to a lender. In response to those claims, attorneys for Chetrit said: “deny in the strongest terms possible any and all allegations of fraud or wrongdoing,” as stated last August.
