By Della Hasselle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN - It’s the War of Roses of the Upper West Side.
The investors of Wine and Roses, a wine bar on Columbus Avenue between 73rd and 74th Streets, have booted out the owners in a bitter battle for the restaurant’s control, the New York Post reported.
Former Jordache Jeans model Jennifer Klein opened the wine bar with her husband Todd in 2006, drawing a celebrity-rich clientele that included Matthew Broderick and various “Saturday Night Live” stars, according to the Post.
Klein was given a more than 20 percent share of the ownership for a $100 investment while other investors put in as much as $100,000 each, the paper reported.
Police removed the Kleins from the restaurant on Monday at the request of the other investors, according to the paper.
Now the Kleins are headed to court to fight for their restaurant. They've accused one investor, Jon Gruen, of sexual harassment and siphoning money, the Post reported.
In an e-mail, another investor, Bruce Galloway, questioned the amount of profits generated by Wine and Roses; he said it should be closer to $1.4 million over the past four years, not the $350,000 he said investors received, according to the Post.
"[The Kleins] are lining their pockets with complete disregard to us. They sit there drunk and stoned all night offending our customers,” the e-mail read, according to the paper.
In response to the e-mail the Kleins sued Galloway for defamation in Manhattan Supreme Court July 8.
“Nobody is stealing,” Todd Klein told the Post. “We put our blood, sweat and tears into this business. What do they have to gain from this? Who treats somebody like this?”
