Bankruptcy filings: $6.2M in East Williamsburg following investor’s death, $4.9M in Bay Ridge

Just under two months after the death of real estate investor and garage owner Perry Finkelman, the entity formed to purchase the building in 2019 from an affiliate of his filed for bankruptcy. The owner entity, 47 Brooklyn Lofts LLC, is named in decade-old litigation brought by four tenants of the building located at 57 Thames Street in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Bankruptcy 1-24-44146-jmm LINK

Daniel McCrossin signed for 47 Brooklyn Lofts LLC as authorized signatory. He is an employee of the late Perry Finkelman’s AutoMotion. Finkelman also owned the American Development Group.
Perry Finkelman died at the age of 65 on August 14, 2024.

The partnership 47 Thames Realty LLC that included Perry Finkelman and Harry Greenbaum and others, bought the building in 1999. On January 9, 2019, that prior partnership sold the building for $6.19 million to the new entity, 47 Brooklyn Loft LLC, as the tenants were pursuing their case.

Perry Finkelman signed for buyer and seller in that transaction.

Ellen Robinson, Don Shillingburg, Amy Kreiling and Roy Williams brought a case, 17405/2013 in Kings County Supreme Court.

On April 16, 2024, defendant 47 Thames Realty filed a bankruptcy petition 1-24-41617-ess.

According to the creditors, in a filing in the 47 Thames Realty case, “As the state court found in its decision and order of April 2023 as is discussed in Creditors’ Motion, Finkelman, as the sole Principal of a thriving mixed residential and commercial real estate property, concocted a new company, 47 Brooklyn Loft, LLC, and transferred the Building and its assets to it without genuine consideration, as part of a scheme to avoid state court judgments.”

According to a State Court memo from the creditors: “In this lawsuit fìled in 2013, the plaintiffs prevailed on all the relief sought in the complaint. The plaintiffs were granted summary judgment on their fìrst claim for a permanent injunction barring 47 Thames Realty LLC (“defendant” or “owner”) from bringing any actions or proceedings contrary to the plaintiffs’ status as rent stabilized tenants, and on their second claim for an award of attorneys’ fees pursuant to RPL 234. Furthermore, the plaintiffs were granted an award of sanctions as against the defendant.”

These action follow an earlier case: Order and Judgment 22227/06

According to the Finkelman team, “The members of 47 Brooklyn Loft are the Finkelman Family LP — which Perry Finkelman is not a partner of — and Mark Engel.”

The property

The elevator building with 14 residential units in East Williamsburg has 35,000 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 115 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 11,500 square feet. The zoning is M1-1 which allows for up to 1 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $3 million.

Prior sales and revenue

This property was sold for $6.2 million on January 11, 2019.

The 35,000-square-foot property generated revenue of $640,128 or $18 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.

The borrower of a 51-unit rental building at 8501 Fort Hamilton Parkway in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, that was allegedly hit hard buy Covid filed a $4.9 million bankruptcy to halt a state foreclosure action lender Flagstar Bank filed in March 2024. Muhamet Nikezi filed the petition 1-24-44150-nhl in Eastern District of New York.
Bankruptcy LINK

Muhamet Nikezi plans a “toggle” bankruptcy, according to the filing. According to the complaint, “as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath rent collections fell dramatically… Before Covid, the Building generated monthly rents of approximately $71,000… After the onset of Covid 19 rent collection fell to approximately $36,000… I estimate current unpaid rents of nearly $2 million, against a currently monthly rent roll of approximately $77,000. Although the Building started to rebound in recent months, the mortgage debt fell into default about a year ago, exacerbated by a number of violations which all arose out of Covid because the City could not inspect the apartments.Property was originally purchased by my father almost thirty years ago.”

The property

The walkup building with 51 residential units in Bay Ridge has 43,000 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 101 feet and is 155 feet deep with a total lot size of 18,150 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is R4-1 which allows for up to 0.75 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $3.5 million. The most recent loan totaled 0.0 and was provided by Brick Capital Group on July 12, 2021.

Prior sales and revenue

The 43,000-square-foot property generated revenue of $749,753 or $17 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

Development

Over the past five years, there has been no NYC Department of Buildings new building, demolition, or alteration permit application valued at more than $20,000 filed for this parcel.

Violations and lawsuits

According to city public data, the property has received six DOB violations, $3,125 in ECB penalties, 116 housing violations, and $8,635 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The property was involved in one lawsuit and one bankruptcy over the past two years. The suit was a $4.9 million commercial foreclosure concerning a loan filed on March 15, 2024, by Flagstar Bank against Muhamet Nikezi. The bankruptcy was filed on October 4, 2024, by Muhamet Nikezi citing assets of $4.9 million.
Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page.