Central Park West buildings, NY. Photograph by Daniel Case
A hermit has been paid $17 million (£10 million) to move out of his rented apartment on the top floor of a New York hotel to make way for developers.
Herbert Sukenik, who was 73 at the time, was one of four reclusive bachelors who were living in rent-controlled apartments in the top floors of the Mayflower Hotel in the Upper West Side when the building was bought by developers Will and Arthur Zeckendorf in 2004.
Due to the status of the apartments, before tearing down the Mayflower to build 15 Central Park West, the Zeckendorf brothers were responsible for buying out and relocating the four men who had all lived there for more than 30 years according to the NY Post.
Whilst the other three bachelors, the eldest of whom was 98, were relocated relatively easily, Sukenik was particularly stubborn and stayed in the building for two years negotiating the $17 million payout as well as a replacement home for just $1 (£0.60) per month rent in a home worth $2 million (£1.2 million).
The story of Sukenik’s stubbornness have been revealed in the forthcoming book “House of Outrageous Fortune: Fifteen Central Park West, the World’s Most Powerful Address” by Michael Gross.
