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Con Ed Threatens to Nix Service at Jared Kushner-Owned Properties

By Allegra Hobbs | December 12, 2016 6:23pm
 329 E. Ninth St. is part of
329 E. Ninth St. is part of "Kushner Village."
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DNAinfo/Allegra Hobbs

EAST VILLAGE — Con Edison has slammed a row of East Ninth Street buildings owned by Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law, with notices threatening to shut off service because Kushner's company failed to pay hundreds of dollars in electric bills. 

Kushner's company, Westminster Management, has let $700.47 in unpaid electric bills pile up, according to a service turn-off notice delivered to the row of buildings spanning 329-335 E. Ninth St., and never paid a $525 security deposit.

The company must pay up within the coming weeks to avoid a service turn-off, according to the notice, which was first reported by EV Grieve.

"We regret to notify you that because KUSHNER VILLAGE 329 has not paid past due bills for $700.47 and a $525.00 security deposit...we will have to turn off service unless we receive payment by January 4, 2017," reads the notice, dated Dec. 5.

The notice makes clear that residential units are not in danger of losing electricity, as tenants have individual Con Edison accounts, but that it would cut service to common areas of the buildings.

The notices had been removed from the buildings doors' by Monday afternoon.

A representative of Westminster Management said the company was in the midst of transitioning the management of utility payments to a different company, likely causing a delay in payments, and added that the bill had been paid on Monday.

However, Con Edison's phone system showed the payment was still past due as of Monday evening.

Kushner has previously come under fire from tenants of the row of buildings between Second and First avenues for nightmarish conditions stemming from construction.

Several tenants of 331 E. Ninth St. withheld rent when collapsing ceilings and other conditions made their apartment unlivable, leading Westminster to sue them in 2015. The tenants counter-sued, and accused the management company of being intentionally unresponsive to their complaints.