Alistair Economakis

It's been well over a month since I received one of the most riveting letters in the history of letter writing. It's an e-mail from a man who says he's the eldest cousin of Alistair Economakis--the landlord that's awfully close to turning the 15-unit, 60-room tenement building he owns at 47 East Third Street into a mansion for his family.

Despite several e-mails sent from The Observer to the landlord's lawyer (as well as to that lawyer's spokesperson) asking to confirm that Mr. Economakis has a cousin named Evel, we still haven't heard anything one way or the other. So take the letter with a grain of salt.  read more »

Folk singer David Peel was leading a crowd of protesters in a singalong of his charming ditty “Die Yuppie Scum” on Friday evening, when suddenly the rebellious crooner experienced a moment of clarity.

“What are we doing over here?” Mr. Peel asked. “Where are the apartments?”

A few doors down, it turned out.

Demonstrators had intended to gather outside an apartment building at 47 East 3rd Street, owned by controversial landlord Alistair Economakis, who has been trying to uproot its rent-stabilized tenants for years in order to create a sprawling manse for himself and his family.  read more »

The East Village is a big step closer to getting a brand-new mansion and losing a 15-unit, 60-room, 11,600-square-foot rent-stabilized tenement building.  read more »