D.A. Bragg, D.O.I. Commissioner Strauber Announce Indictment Of Landlords For Tenant Harassment In Chelsea Apartment

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. and D.O.I. Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber today announced the indictment of MEYER CHETRIT, 61, and an indicted unarraigned co-defendant, and their companies, THE WEST PARAMONT LLC, and THE CHETRIT GROUP, LLC for harassing two older, rent-regulated tenants in Chelsea between September 2020 and September 2025. MEYER CHETRIT, an indicted unarraigned co-defendant, THE WEST PARAMONT LLC, and THE CHETRIT GROUP, LLC are charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with two counts of Harassment of a Rent Regulated Tenant in the First Degree. [1]

"As alleged, Meyer Chetrit waged a campaign of harassment against two rent-regulated tenants in their 70s in hopes they would move out, and the building could be sold," said District Attorney Bragg. "From winters without heat and unrepaired roofs causing leaks and ceiling collapses, these New Yorkers were forced to live in uninhabitable conditions. This is exactly the type of pattern of criminal harassment my Office's Housing and Tenant Protection Unit was created to stop. All New Yorkers deserve to live in safe homes - please contact our Housing and Tenant Protection Unit at 212-335-3300 or [email protected] for help."

DOI Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber said, "New York City landlords must maintain safe and habitable living conditions for their tenants. A deliberate failure to do so, in an effort to drive tenants from their residences, is a violation of City building codes and also a criminal offense. As charged here, two landlords and their companies subjected rent-regulated tenants in their seventies to endure uninhabitable conditions for five years, to force them to leave their homes. DOI thanks the Manhattan District Attorney's Office for its partnership in this investigation and its continuing commitment to protect the rights of New York City tenants."

As alleged in court documents and statements made on the record, since September 2020, MEYER CHETRIT and an indicted unarraigned co-defendant, along with the companies they controlled, THE WEST PARAMONT LLC and the CHETRIT GROUP, LLC, engaged in a sustained pattern of harassment of two rent-regulated tenants living in a Manhattan property they own located at 117-119 West 26th Street in Chelsea.

MEYER CHETRIT and an indicted unarraigned co-defendant kept the building nearly vacant for over a decade, with the goal of emptying the building entirely to clear the way for demolition, redevelopment, or sale.

The tenants have lived in the building for almost five decades. Since the mid-1980's, their apartments have been classified as "interim multiple dwellings," a type of rent-regulated tenancy overseen by the New York City Loft Board during what should be a brief period of time required to convert a commercial loft to code-compliant residential use.

MEYER CHETRIT and an indicted unarraigned co-defendant purchased the building in 2005 but have failed to complete the conversion process. Additionally, they have left the building in increasingly uninhabitable condition. The tenants, both in their mid-70s, frequently lived without heat for extended periods each winter, including a heat outage in 2021 that lasted from mid-January to early March. The tenants have not had a functional elevator since September 2023, forcing them to walk up the stairs to their fourth and fifth floor apartments. The roof has deteriorated, causing persistent leaks, a ceiling collapse, and flooding in the fifth-floor tenant's apartment.

In 2023, part of the building's unoccupied commercial section collapsed, prompting the Department of Buildings to issue a partial vacate order. Although the order did not apply to the residential units, shortly after the incident, tenants found notices posted throughout the building threatening them with arrest if they refused to abandon their homes.

Manhattan D.A.'s Housing & Tenant Protection Unit

In October 2022, District Attorney Bragg launched the Office's first-ever Housing & Tenant Protection Unit, which targets systemic criminal harassment of tenants and abuse of government programs by landlords and developers. Areas of focus are harassment of rent-regulated tenants, deed fraud, and defrauding of government subsidy programs by landlords and developers. The Unit focuses on long-term investigations into systemic, structures, and organized criminal activity among landlords and developers.

Tips and complaints can be submitted to the Unit's helpline at 212-335-3300 or email [email protected]. The Office is a safe place to report crime regardless of your immigration status.

Assistant D.A. Hannah Stambaugh (Financial Frauds Bureau) is handling the prosecution of this case under the supervision of Assistant D.A.s Chikaelo Ibeabuchi (Chief of the Housing & Tenant Protection Unit), Hope Korenstein (Deputy Chief of the Financial Frauds Bureau), Kofi Sansculotte (Chief of the Financial Frauds Bureau), Judy Salwen (Deputy Chief of the Investigation Division) and Executive Assistant D.A. Jodie Kane (Chief of the Investigation Division).

The following members of the D.A.'s Office provided valuable assistance during the investigation: The Financial Frauds Bureau's Reilly Fletcher (Investigative Analyst), Sofia Albi (HTPU Analyst), Victoria Grevenberg (Housing Coordinator), Ananya Singh (Trial Preparation Assistant), Leila Mohamed (Former Trial Preparation Assistant); The Forensic Accounting & Financial Investigations Bureau's Eric Rothmann (Supervising Forensic Account Investigator), Irene Serrapica (Principal Deputy Bureau Chief), and Robert Demarest (Bureau Chief); Investigation Bureau's Daniel Walker (Rackets Investigator), Michael Minero (Assistant Supervising Rackets Investigator), Samuel Morales (Supervising Rackets Investigator), and Jonathan Reid (Acting Chief); Privilege Review Unit's Olivia Savell (Supervising Financial Privilege Review Data Specialist) and Caroline Serino (Unit Chief).

D.A. Bragg thanked the DOI for its partnership in the investigation, particularly Investigative Attorney Marc Assa.

Defendant Information:

MEYER CHETRIT

New York, NY

Charged:

• Harassment of a Rent Regulated Tenant in the First Degree, a class E felony, two counts

THE WEST PARAMONT LLC

Charged:

• Harassment of a Rent Regulated Tenant in the First Degree, a class E felony, two counts

THE CHETRIT GROUP, LLC

Charged:

• Harassment of a Rent Regulated Tenant in the First Degree, a class E felony, two counts

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[1] The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. All factual recitations are derived from documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court.