Meyer Chetrit, a developer from the well-known Chetrit family in Manhattan real estate, has been indicted on felony charges related to tenant harassment. The Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced that Chetrit allegedly targeted elderly, rent-regulated tenants in Chelsea over a period of five years.
Bragg and Jocelyn Strauber, commissioner of the city’s Department of Investigation, stated that Chetrit “waged a campaign of harassment” against two tenants in their seventies, aiming to force them out so the building could be sold. Bragg said in a statement: “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 first-degree harassment of a rent-regulated tenant. These class E felony charges carry a maximum penalty of four years in prison. Sentencing alternatives may apply for nonviolent offenders with no prior felony convictions.
Chetrit’s attorney did not respond immediately to requests for comment. According to court records, Chetrit has pleaded not guilty.
The district attorney’s office also mentioned an unnamed codefendant who has been indicted but has not yet appeared in court.
According to the DA’s release, the tenants have lived at 117-119 West 26th Street since the 1980s. Chetrit and the codefendant bought the property in 2005 but did not finish converting it from commercial lofts to residential units. The apartments are considered “interim multiple dwellings” under oversight by the city’s Loft Board.
The DA’s office reported that beyond prolonged periods without heat and a collapsed ceiling, residents have been without elevator service since September 2023. That same year, part of an unused commercial section collapsed, leading authorities to issue a partial vacate order for the building.
In addition to this criminal case, Chetrit is involved in several civil lawsuits. One includes claims that he is hiding assets to avoid paying a $132 million judgment owed to a lender. In response to those accusations, Chetrit’s attorneys said in August: “deny in the strongest terms possible any and all allegations of fraud or wrongdoing.”
