Note: This post has been updated with new information since the original publication date.
"So much of our lives, we are told to be quiet, to sit down, not to make waves.
Why? So the unprincipled billionaires of the world can step all over us?
I may just be one person, but I have a voice and I'll use it to stand up for what is right."
There has been so much in the news lately about the shady state of New York City's real estate market. For example, the New York Times recently reported on a $125 million lawsuit against a developer in Manhattan for construction issues, design and development flaws ranging from flooding to noise/vibration issues. See, e.g. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/23/realestate/432-park-avenue-lawsuit.html. These types of construction issues seem to be plaguing other new developments in Manhattan as well. The much hyped One United Nations Park, originally started by developer Sheldon Solow and taken over by his heir, who changed his surname to Soloviev, has some condo owners asking about potential construction defects ranging from rumors of "Weeping Walls," which were described as water seeping through the walls of certain units during rainstorms to apparent systemic malfunctioning of the units' Crestron "Smart Home" shade and HVAC systems to other issues ranging from "brown water running through the taps" in the G line to the building refusing to allow food deliveries to your door to bulldozing the nesting areas of migratory bird families (!).
I wouldn't normally write about that in this forum, however, I feel I have to share this to prevent others from potentially being harmed given that the developer doesn't seem to have corrected misinformation out there yet, even after being informed of the issue I am about to describe.
Several years ago, I survived melanoma. I was lucky and caught it early. It’s the deadliest form of skin cancer and, once you’ve had it, you’re 900% more likely than the average person to get it again and that risk remains elevated for more than 20 (!!!!) years after the original diagnosis. See, e.g., https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3076705/. Obviously, I screen my skin regularly and slather on sunscreen, however, the most common modifiable risk factor for skin cancer is exposure to ultraviolet radiation, which happens year-round, through window glass, regardless of the day being sunny or cloudy. I took the precaution of having my windows covered with a transparent UV protective coating and was thrilled with the results. OK, all good, right? Weeeellll….about three years ago, I looked at One United Nations Park, presented by the Solow (now Soloviev) Group.
This new apartment was almost a glass box, with every exterior wall a floor-to-ceiling window – the walls themselves were windows. Massive potential UV exposure. I immediately told the developer’s representative salesperson, Melanie Estrada, about the cancer history, the UV coating I’d done at my apartment and asked about these windows, which potentially created hugely harmful UV exposure. Ms. Estrada, on behalf of Solow (Soloviev) assured me that all the glass walls/windows/doors were made of special UV-protective glass, which would filter out ALL the UV. She even put it in writing, stating, “The entire harmful UV light is being filtered out” and “UV transmission is 0%.” I was so happy. This was a critical factor in determining whether or not to buy the home given that "[t]he link between sun exposure and skin cancer is well established. Ultraviolet radiation is thought to cause up to 95% of basal and squamous cell carcinomas, and between 70-95% of melanomas in people with fair skin" ...[and]...“Skin cancer is caused by exposing the cells in the skin to UV radiation, and particularly UVB radiation," - https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/mineral-sunscreen-chemical-sunscreen-or-no-sunscreen-what-s-best/ar-AA1p3GDw
Based on the Soloviev rep's representations, my family bought the apartment. Over the course of the next three years, I suddenly had to have two suspicious biopsies and a TUMOR removed from my neck. My family also noticed a painting on our wall fading rapidly. These, along with other small signs, made us question the truthfulness of the developer's representative. We asked a different representative from the developer, the Soloviev engineer, to confirm the glass was entirely UV protective and he assured us, both verbally and in writing, that it was.
Other smaller things occurred that made me worry about the developer’s integrity. For example, the gas went out and people were given hotplates. The small print some, if not all, of the hotplates came with noted they were not food safe. Despite this, the building management, led by Kelsey Gamez of FirstService, refused to notify residents that the hotplates—issued in response to a gas outage—were not food-safe, as stated in the fine print.
At least two residents inquired as to whether the de-icer the building used was pet-safe to a building developer representative and she affirmed it was, but a sympathetic maintenance staff member warned residents on the side that it wasn’t, and that it could harm the dogs. I was horrified that anyone might lie and knowingly put someone’s health, or their pet’s health, at risk just for the sake of a sale or saving a dollar or the convenience of the developer, Soloviev.
There are many small examples of this that compiled over the three years and my trust was eroding to the point where, finally, I’d had enough and was so anxious I was making myself sick. I contacted an expert and he recommended a standard UV detection test of the glass. It confirmed my worst fears and showed the statements made by the building developer representatives were false. Approximately 1/3 of the glass in the study where I work every day – sitting directly in the sun, thinking I was safe – showed significant UV exposure and no protection. Similarly, roughly half the glass in the living room showed the same significant exposure. This is akin to telling someone with fair skin to go sit on a sunny beach and that they’ll be safe with this sunscreen but, instead of giving them sunscreen, you give them a bottle of baby oil. WTF? Seriously, WTF? Had I known the truth, I could and would have protected myself! I could have opted not to buy the place or I could have done the same thing as I had done for my previous home and had solar film installed.
There’s been a lot of coverage in the media recently about how much fabrication and lack of integrity exists in the NYC real estate world. I was disgusted by it and now, I am in this surreal situation where I unknowingly basically sat in a potentially lethal UV bath almost every day, during peak sun hours, thinking I was safe, for several YEARS. I may not know the real impact for a long time.
It’s very hard for me to understand how people, especially people who don’t need to – they already have plenty of money – will lie and fabricate and mislead and puff or exaggerate or have no problem being negligent or reckless to get a better financial deal for themselves, at the expense of the health or even lives of others.
When we reached out to the developer - the Soloviev group - they didn't take accountability or fix the problem. Instead, they said the same thing they or their representatives have said over and over to us and others of our neighbors who have asked about the consistently malfunctioning automated Crestron systems in their apartments, the prolonged mysterious lack of financials for the condo owners and so much more: We need more time. We'll investigate at some undefined point with some undefined end time.
These "investigations" never seem to actually resolve. It is an easy way to put people off and do nothing to solve the problem. Their representative said the developer had put in their own insurance claim on this issue (!). If I read that right, the developer appears to not have time to take any remedial action to prevent further harm to victims but plenty of time to seek insurance money for themself for the harm suffered by others, while those others remain harmed.
The Soloviev lawyer said his client considers litigation to be a "sport" and that I should have tested the glass sooner (e.g., not relied on his client's written and verbal assurances that the glass was 100% UV protective because...why? Does his client lie so much anyone should know it and that's somehow acceptable?).
A recent speech in news media included this quote about someone's mother-in-law and grandmother:
“They knew what was true. They knew what mattered. Things like honesty and integrity, kindness and hard work. They weren’t impressed with braggarts or bullies. They didn’t think putting other people down lifted you up or made you strong.” Here, it’s shocking to see how this developer, with vast resources, chooses to treat serious issues as nothing more than 'sport.' And this pattern of neglect, as demonstrated in their behavior towards me and other residents, seems to align with their history of so-called "sport" litigation, as seen in multiple media reports:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/billionaire-father-and-son-stefan-and-hayden-soloviev-lose-absurd-school-bullying-suit
https://unicourt.com/case/ny-sue1-stefan-soloviev-et-al-v-jane-doe-1335258
https://nypost.com/2023/03/08/sheldon-solow-heirs-lose-trademark-feud-over-inaccessible-art-gallery/
Wow. Just wow. You can't make this stuff up.
"So much of our lives, we are told to be quiet, to sit down, not to make waves.
Why? So the unprincipled billionaires of the world can step all over us?
I may just be one person, but I have a voice and I'll use it to stand up for what is right."
There has been so much in the news lately about the shady state of New York City's real estate market. For example, the New York Times recently reported on a $125 million lawsuit against a developer in Manhattan for construction issues, design and development flaws ranging from flooding to noise/vibration issues. See, e.g. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/23/realestate/432-park-avenue-lawsuit.html. These types of construction issues seem to be plaguing other new developments in Manhattan as well. The much hyped One United Nations Park, originally started by developer Sheldon Solow and taken over by his heir, who changed his surname to Soloviev, has some condo owners asking about potential construction defects ranging from rumors of "Weeping Walls," which were described as water seeping through the walls of certain units during rainstorms to apparent systemic malfunctioning of the units' Crestron "Smart Home" shade and HVAC systems to other issues ranging from "brown water running through the taps" in the G line to the building refusing to allow food deliveries to your door to bulldozing the nesting areas of migratory bird families (!).
I wouldn't normally write about that in this forum, however, I feel I have to share this to prevent others from potentially being harmed given that the developer doesn't seem to have corrected misinformation out there yet, even after being informed of the issue I am about to describe.
Several years ago, I survived melanoma. I was lucky and caught it early. It’s the deadliest form of skin cancer and, once you’ve had it, you’re 900% more likely than the average person to get it again and that risk remains elevated for more than 20 (!!!!) years after the original diagnosis. See, e.g., https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3076705/. Obviously, I screen my skin regularly and slather on sunscreen, however, the most common modifiable risk factor for skin cancer is exposure to ultraviolet radiation, which happens year-round, through window glass, regardless of the day being sunny or cloudy. I took the precaution of having my windows covered with a transparent UV protective coating and was thrilled with the results. OK, all good, right? Weeeellll….about three years ago, I looked at One United Nations Park, presented by the Solow (now Soloviev) Group.
This new apartment was almost a glass box, with every exterior wall a floor-to-ceiling window – the walls themselves were windows. Massive potential UV exposure. I immediately told the developer’s representative salesperson, Melanie Estrada, about the cancer history, the UV coating I’d done at my apartment and asked about these windows, which potentially created hugely harmful UV exposure. Ms. Estrada, on behalf of Solow (Soloviev) assured me that all the glass walls/windows/doors were made of special UV-protective glass, which would filter out ALL the UV. She even put it in writing, stating, “The entire harmful UV light is being filtered out” and “UV transmission is 0%.” I was so happy. This was a critical factor in determining whether or not to buy the home given that "[t]he link between sun exposure and skin cancer is well established. Ultraviolet radiation is thought to cause up to 95% of basal and squamous cell carcinomas, and between 70-95% of melanomas in people with fair skin" ...[and]...“Skin cancer is caused by exposing the cells in the skin to UV radiation, and particularly UVB radiation," - https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/mineral-sunscreen-chemical-sunscreen-or-no-sunscreen-what-s-best/ar-AA1p3GDw
Based on the Soloviev rep's representations, my family bought the apartment. Over the course of the next three years, I suddenly had to have two suspicious biopsies and a TUMOR removed from my neck. My family also noticed a painting on our wall fading rapidly. These, along with other small signs, made us question the truthfulness of the developer's representative. We asked a different representative from the developer, the Soloviev engineer, to confirm the glass was entirely UV protective and he assured us, both verbally and in writing, that it was.
Other smaller things occurred that made me worry about the developer’s integrity. For example, the gas went out and people were given hotplates. The small print some, if not all, of the hotplates came with noted they were not food safe. Despite this, the building management, led by Kelsey Gamez of FirstService, refused to notify residents that the hotplates—issued in response to a gas outage—were not food-safe, as stated in the fine print.
At least two residents inquired as to whether the de-icer the building used was pet-safe to a building developer representative and she affirmed it was, but a sympathetic maintenance staff member warned residents on the side that it wasn’t, and that it could harm the dogs. I was horrified that anyone might lie and knowingly put someone’s health, or their pet’s health, at risk just for the sake of a sale or saving a dollar or the convenience of the developer, Soloviev.
There are many small examples of this that compiled over the three years and my trust was eroding to the point where, finally, I’d had enough and was so anxious I was making myself sick. I contacted an expert and he recommended a standard UV detection test of the glass. It confirmed my worst fears and showed the statements made by the building developer representatives were false. Approximately 1/3 of the glass in the study where I work every day – sitting directly in the sun, thinking I was safe – showed significant UV exposure and no protection. Similarly, roughly half the glass in the living room showed the same significant exposure. This is akin to telling someone with fair skin to go sit on a sunny beach and that they’ll be safe with this sunscreen but, instead of giving them sunscreen, you give them a bottle of baby oil. WTF? Seriously, WTF? Had I known the truth, I could and would have protected myself! I could have opted not to buy the place or I could have done the same thing as I had done for my previous home and had solar film installed.
There’s been a lot of coverage in the media recently about how much fabrication and lack of integrity exists in the NYC real estate world. I was disgusted by it and now, I am in this surreal situation where I unknowingly basically sat in a potentially lethal UV bath almost every day, during peak sun hours, thinking I was safe, for several YEARS. I may not know the real impact for a long time.
It’s very hard for me to understand how people, especially people who don’t need to – they already have plenty of money – will lie and fabricate and mislead and puff or exaggerate or have no problem being negligent or reckless to get a better financial deal for themselves, at the expense of the health or even lives of others.
When we reached out to the developer - the Soloviev group - they didn't take accountability or fix the problem. Instead, they said the same thing they or their representatives have said over and over to us and others of our neighbors who have asked about the consistently malfunctioning automated Crestron systems in their apartments, the prolonged mysterious lack of financials for the condo owners and so much more: We need more time. We'll investigate at some undefined point with some undefined end time.
These "investigations" never seem to actually resolve. It is an easy way to put people off and do nothing to solve the problem. Their representative said the developer had put in their own insurance claim on this issue (!). If I read that right, the developer appears to not have time to take any remedial action to prevent further harm to victims but plenty of time to seek insurance money for themself for the harm suffered by others, while those others remain harmed.
The Soloviev lawyer said his client considers litigation to be a "sport" and that I should have tested the glass sooner (e.g., not relied on his client's written and verbal assurances that the glass was 100% UV protective because...why? Does his client lie so much anyone should know it and that's somehow acceptable?).
A recent speech in news media included this quote about someone's mother-in-law and grandmother:
“They knew what was true. They knew what mattered. Things like honesty and integrity, kindness and hard work. They weren’t impressed with braggarts or bullies. They didn’t think putting other people down lifted you up or made you strong.” Here, it’s shocking to see how this developer, with vast resources, chooses to treat serious issues as nothing more than 'sport.' And this pattern of neglect, as demonstrated in their behavior towards me and other residents, seems to align with their history of so-called "sport" litigation, as seen in multiple media reports:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/billionaire-father-and-son-stefan-and-hayden-soloviev-lose-absurd-school-bullying-suit
https://unicourt.com/case/ny-sue1-stefan-soloviev-et-al-v-jane-doe-1335258
https://nypost.com/2023/03/08/sheldon-solow-heirs-lose-trademark-feud-over-inaccessible-art-gallery/
Wow. Just wow. You can't make this stuff up.
Above link to The Real Deal: https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2022/01/07/stefan-soloviev-terrifies-his-nannies-insider-2/
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