Chetrits’ Hotel Carter in Times Square to Be Auctioned

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After years of deterioration and blight, the Hotel Carter in Times Square is poised to have a new owner in a matter of months.

The vacant property at 250 West 43rd Street is being put up for auction with the Manhattan sheriff’s office on May 6, the New York Post reported. The development was posted in a legal notice; the sheriff did not respond to a request for comment from the publication.

Less than a year ago, the city filed a civil lawsuit against brothers Meyer and Joseph Chetrit, claiming they failed to properly maintain the property, making it a public nuisance.

The city alleged the Chetrits racked up more than 155 violations at the 120-year-old property, claiming the brothers “abandoned this project” after defaulting on a $233 million mortgage earlier in the year.

Alleged violations included a first floor and cellar that were completely demolished without properly sealing off the interior to the public, “disconnected parapet panels in danger of falling; missing and detached panels; hanging wires; rotten plywood; out-of-plumb elements leaning toward parked cars; inoperable lights under the shed; inadequate signage; and visibility hazards, creating a risk that a car may strike the shed.”

Furthermore, the city alleged the Chetrits abandoned the property. The previous summer, lender Mack Real Estate Group sued Meyer and Joseph seeking to collect a $6.5 million personal guarantee on their mezzanine loan.

At the time of the suit, a spokesperson for the family said it would work with the city to fix the violations. A family spokesperson did not respond to The Real Deal’s request for comment on the auction.

The Chetrits paid $192 million in 2015 to buy the hotel, which TripAdvisor once named the dirtiest in the city. The Observer, meanwhile, wrote it was “undeniably, unequivocally, the worst hotel” in the Big Apple.

It has been closed for six years.

Meyer and Joseph Chetrit have more problems to deal with than the squalid hotel. The brothers are facing criminal tenant harassment charges that could see the landlords serve prison time. The brothers pleaded not guilty several months ago to two counts of tenant harassment.

They are due back in court April 29.

— Holden Walter-Warner