Florent: Une Petite Clarification, S'il Vous Plait

Restaurateur Florent Morellet called today to clarify something from last week's Observer article on the fate of his iconic Florent diner on Gansevoort Street.

That $150,000 he's seeking from landlord Joanne Lucas in court? "What we're claiming is not really damage," he said. "It's being overcharged."

Specifically, the landlord was supposed to charge the restaurant only 66 percent of the annual increases in real-estate taxes over the past several years; instead she charged the full 100 percent, he explained.

That's in addition to her alleged failure to file tax forms that would have also reduced the restaurant's tax burden, as the article reported.

A housing court judge was expected to read Mr. Morellet's complaint and render a decision within the coming weeks.