Now that Joan Rivers has passed, one woman who she had feuded with, socialite Elizabeth Hazan, will now be able to return to her Manhattan condo that Rivers had worked so hard to kick her out of, ending a $15 million lawsuit.
The dispute between the two women centered on the condominium building at 1 East 62nd Street where the two lived. At Rivers’ behest, the condominium board there, over which she presided, tried to kick out Hazan, accusing her of squatting in her own apartment after she defaulted on more than $200, 000 in condo fees.
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Hazan bought the apartment in 2005 for $1.85 million and then fell behind on her mortgage payments. So in 2011 she transferred ownership of the condo which is now controlled by Real Estate Holdings Group LLC. That organization had filed a $15 million suit against 1 East 62nd Street’s board.
The suit was settled last week with the help of New York Supreme Court Justice Anil Singh. “I am extremely happy. This wouldn’t have happened without the judge, ” Hazan told New York’s The Daily News.
Located in Lennox Hill near the corner of Fifth Ave, 1 East 62nd Street is a 42 foot wide limestone mansion, designed by Horace Trumbauer, America’s great classical revivalist architect. Originally built in 1903 for John R. Drexel and his socialite wife Alice Troth Drexel, the house was converted into apartments in the 1930’s. Ernest Hemingway wrote The Snows of Kilamanjaro when he lived there.
Hazan, however, has lost a different case over another one of her homes. A Florida Judge has ruled against her regarding the default on a $1.3 Million loan for her $5.1 million Mediterranean-style mansion on Fisher Island in Miami, according to The Real Deal. The money was borrowed in 2006 and in 2008 a default judgment was obtained against her for $1.6 million.
There is no word yet on whether Hazan intends to sell that property to pay back the money owed.
