Posted on 10/16/2011 12:33:26 PM PDT by Beaten Valve
Pay up or get out.
Con Ed has given the Ground Zero mosque an ultimatum: Pay the $1.7 million you owe in back rent, or well terminate your lease and take back our property.
Con Ed and mosque developer Park51 have an unusual, uneasy alliance, sharing ownership of a site slated to be one of the most controversial projects in city history.
The utility owns a former substation on the western half of the property, at 51 Park Place, and the mosque developers own a five-story building on the eastern half. The buildings were connected years ago and used to house a Burlington Coat Factory store.
Park51, which leases the substation from Con Ed, wants the two buildings so it can knock both down and build a $100 million, 15-story community center.
But the plan hit a major obstacle in August when Con Ed raised the rent from $2,750 a month, a rate set in 1972, to $47,437 a month, retroactive to July 31, 2008, The Post has learned.
When the mosque failed to fork over the $1.7 million, the utility fired off a letter demanding the money by Oct. 4 and threatening to evict.
Park51 principals responded with a lawsuit to stop the increase, calling Con Eds rent demands outrageous.
Whether it is bowing to political pressure or seeking to retain the valuable premises for itself, Con Ed appears intent on proceeding with its wrongful termination, argued Sharif El-Gamal, the lead Park51 developer.
Gamal said Con Eds move also wipes out his ability to eventually buy the substation building, where the Park51 developers have converted the first floor into a prayer space. They turned the first floor of the adjoining building into a cultural center and recently debuted their first event, a photography exhibit.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
So, who owns the land underneath each structure?
I would suspect that someone in ConEd finally woke up and realized how big a mess this had turned into. Raising the rent makes perfect sense.
Hey, maybe they can pass a hat around Zuccotti Park!
Exactly...
Wow, is that legal?
Any more news on the plans to open a gay bar catering to jihadist rump rangers called "Suspicious Packages" nearby? Now that there may be space available, this may be the time to move forward!
Take it back Con Ed, take it back!
Love Greg Gutfeld!!
Can we start a donation fund and pay the rent if they evict the Mosque?? That would be a worthwhile donation.
That's for the lawyers to work out. But $2,750 a month, a rate unchanged since 1972, was an insane giveaway. $2,750 a month, for a WHOLE BUILDING in the Wall Street area? There are people paying that for an apartment in that area.
I just want those effers out of there. I was there protesting the building of it. Sickens me to believe it has actually opened.
I want to go down there and just throw bacon upon their front steps. I’d probably be arrested for it.....but in the meantime, OWS is unlawfully occupying a private park and NOTHING is done.
I hate this upside down world we are living in. Just hate it.
Soros will cover the 1.7 Mil, but who will keep paying the monthly rent?
Vaguely complicated. The 'rent' is a bulk lease payment, Park51 says it should be 25k a month, ConEd says 47k. ConEd's point is that the reduced rate was for a very limited time before exercising the option to buy - not only has the group not exercised that option, but they've failed to get their non-profit status, failed to pay any lease rate, and ConEd's exercising it's right to collect prevailing market value for the property.
There's less and less of a leg for Park51 to stand on - admittedly, a lot of what's happening right now is posturing before the November court date over the disagreements the two had earlier this year. ConEd's saying, 'hey, if you got deep pocket supporters, better tap them, pay us off, and you can move forward with your project. If you don't, time for you to roll up and get out of our way.' Either way, ConEd, even if the court date doesn't go it's way on lease rates, will demand immediate payment and start evicting them. And Park51's hoping to nail down 5 million in federal funds to continue their project.
What a joke! $2800 a month for a large, attractive building in that hallowed ground. The cheezy, corrupt, greasy dead-eyed imam can’t come up with that? Or is he just dissing the infidels? I pay about $300 less for our tiny place!
Read that wrong! Gosh, I wish we had editing abilities here.
Fixed. :)
...and if you want to *buy* an apartment, you’re looking at $1,000/sq foot and up...
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