Real-estate baron Alistair Economakis today will face off against his tenants in Manhattan court, arguing that he should be allowed to evict eight families from a Lower East Side building so that he and his family can convert it into a towering mansion.
“We have lived in the building for 1 1/2 years,” Economakis told The Post last week. “[I] want to unify the space.”
Economakis said he has vowed to sign a legal document offering tenants all income from the rental or sale of the building if he decides not to use it as a single-family home.
“They said they don’t trust us,” he said.
The six-story building at 47 E. Third St. was originally designed to house 15 families in 60 rooms. Economakis, his wife and their two children currently occupy six apartments in the building.
Many tenants have already struck deals and left the building, but a determined group has paid more than $250,000 in legal fees to protect members’ rent-stabilized homes.