The Disaster of One Madison Park

My obsession, “One Madison Park,” the super-skinny building that went up at the foot of Madison Ave. and 23rd Street, looming over Shake Shack, mostly full of full-floor apartments that we thought had been all bought up by rich Irish people (not rich any more!) and Arabs (some rich still!), has turned out to be a total shit-show in the finest New York tradition. This is a very bad scene. Now the co-builders are suing each other, the debt-holding bank is suing the builders for foreclosure, and there are also a dozen other lawsuits floating around. Some of the most fascinating stuff: when the builders couldn’t sell units back in the glory days of 2007, the builders brought on an ad guy. His fee? Two apartments and $800,000. Ladies, we are all in the wrong business. Annnnnd here comes the punchline: now, “about a dozen of the building’s 90 condos are occupied.” Oof.