City Council hopeful Arthur Gregory has more on his mind lately than the rapidly intensifying race: Now he has to worry about his Financial District pub, B4, getting evicted because he hasn’t paid the bills.
Gregory said the trouble started when scaffolding went up around his entrance at 50 New St. last fall, hiding his bar from view. Around the same time, crashing financial firms depleted his Wall St. crowd. Gregory’s business dropped by half over the past year, he said.
Gregory and his partners had trouble paying his rent and utilities, and it was even harder to pay the $1,500 a month he owed for past unpaid bills, he said.
As a result, Cushman & Wakefield and attorney Adam Pollack, representing Gregory’s landlord, served him with an eviction notice last month, Gregory said. Gregory responded by taking them to New York County Supreme Court, hoping for a rent abatement on account of the economy and the scaffolding. The judge has not made a decision but in the meantime, Gregory can stay open, he said.
Cushman & Wakefield does not comment on litigation, a spokesperson said, and Pollack did not return calls for comment.
Gregory previously went to court in 2005 over a rent dispute related to the A&M Roadhouse on Murray St., which he then owned.
Gregory has spent much of his campaign for City Councilmember Alan Gerson’s seat this spring advocating for other small businesses struggling under the recession, but this dispute gave his rhetoric a personal flavor.
“I’ve been fighting for everyone else’s businesses, and now I’m fighting for mine,” Gregory said.
— Julie Shapiro
