Bada Bing
Satriale's Pork Store — the New Jersey building that served as a hangout for Tony Soprano and company on the hit HBO mob series — is about to get whacked. To make room for condominiums, owner Manny Costeira will demolish the building this month, but not before selling off each of the 2,000 or so bricks that make up the store's famous façade. The bricks will be sold to fans of The Sopranos for $25 to $50, and will come with a serial number and certificate of authenticity. Proceeds from the souvenir sale will ostensibly be plowed into the condo development, which will be called — what else? — The Soprano.
Snout Out
Residents of New York City's Starrett City — the largest federally subsidized housing complex in the country — have turned their noses up to a proposed sale of the community by New York City-based owner Starrett City Associates. Donning pig masks meant to portray the alleged greed of land developers, some 30 protestors stormed Starrett City Associates offices on August 1st chanting "What a shame, what a pity; We can't live in Starrett City." A $1.3 billion offer on the property by New York City-based Clipper Equities was shot down twice by HUD, and formally expired a week after the protests. Starrett City Associates spokesperson Martin McLaughlin told the New York Daily News that the company has yet to make any further plans for the complex.
Party Animals
Some 32 residents of four rental units are putting the "wild" in the seaside party town of Wildwood, N.J. The group has been arrested 99 times for their activities over the past two years. Now Perkasie, Pa.-based property owner (and absentee manager) John Liebel will face the music: He stands to lose his permit to rent under a city ordinance informally known as the "Animal House Law." Under the ordinance, town commissioners can revoke a permit to rent if two or more residents are found guilty of "disorderly, indecent, tumultuous, or riotous conduct or offences" within a 12-month period. According to the Cape May County Herald, neighbor Joseph Henry asked the city to file the complaint against Liebel after his small claims court victory failed to stop the Delta House behavior next door and on his property. At a July 25 city commissioner's meeting, Liebel was backed by Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano, who added that 16 similar properties with absentee landlords had been shut down during the summer. Editor's note: Send your offbeat multifamily news leads to [email protected].
