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Donna Karan is just like the rest of us. The fashion designer has got a rat infestation, and she is confident her neighbor is the source of the problem. Earlier this year, Karan’s upscale global apparel and crafts brand Urban Zen sued the owner of the empty lot abutting her storefront at 705 Greenwich Street, alleging the site was fueling a rat takeover of her building and disrupting a business where people are perusing $3,500 suede jumpsuits and Hudu vases. On Monday, the owner of the lot at 703 Greenwich Street, William Gottlieb Real Estate, countersued, alleging Urban Zen and the building housing Karan’s store are actually to blame for the vermin scourge. The firm, which was owned by its eccentric namesake, William Gottlieb, until his death in 1999, at one point counted more than 100 properties in the West Village, Meatpacking District, Chelsea, and the Lower East Side in its portfolio, valued at around $1 billion. More recently, it’s been tied up in lawsuits in Kingston, where the company’s current owner and Gottlieb’s nephew, Neil Bender, has been on an acquisition tear. As it turns out, rat complaints have come up before for the firm.

According to a Manhattan Supreme Court complaint filed by Urban Zen in June, the Greenwich Street rat infestation can be traced back to a downed tree at 703 Greenwich in 2024. The complaint argues that the partial stump that was left behind after the tree was cleared, together with construction debris and other materials, created “burrowing channels” that allowed the rats to get inside No. 705, where Karan’s store is located. A dumpster left on the lot for construction debris from nearby properties was also getting filled up with food waste and household garbage, which provided shelter and a never-ending feast for the rats. Ever since, the store’s unwanted occupants have caused “reputational harm, loss of clientele, and financial damage,” per Karan’s complaint. Rats were seen gathering on a terrace that’s used for commercial events, and their presence has caused Urban Zen to cancel or limit gatherings. The infestation is apparently so bad that staff have said they’re concerned for their safety. “Every employee, client, guest, and member of the public who enters the premises is at risk,” the company alleged in court records, noting that the vermin carry diseases like hantavirus. (Per the complaint, neighbors who live behind 703 also have video recordings of the rats and have complained that the scurrying and squeaks are disrupting their sleep.)

William Gottlieb Real Estate disputed the allegations that its site was the sole source of the rat problem back in June. Now the firm has filed its own lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court, claiming that the conditions next door have created the rodent frenzy on both properties and a public-health concern. In its complaint, the real-estate firm points out that Urban Zen’s own lawsuit from June, alleging that rats are nesting in the cavities and holes of its Federal-style building from 1828, is evidence against them. “Defendants cannot reasonably maintain that the 703 Property is the sole source of a neighborhood rodent condition while simultaneously acknowledging that rats are living inside their own building, including within its wall cavities and structural voids,” the complaint reads. William Gottlieb’s suit also notes that Urban Zen hosts catered gatherings that generate food garbage, therefore creating fodder for the rats. “No property owner, tenant, or member of the public should be forced to contend with such conditions in one of our beloved neighborhoods,” a spokesperson for the developer tells me.

But Bender’s firm doesn’t stop there. It also charges  No. 705 with being structurally and environmentally unsafe, complaining that the wall bordering its lot is unstable, and that the building may contain “hazardous” materials such as asbestos or lead paint from updates done over the past two centuries. It also alleges that water runoff from No. 705 has caused or exacerbated lead contamination in its empty lot. Together, these unknowns have put the developer in a bind when it comes to moving forward with construction on the site. “Plaintiff owns a valuable Manhattan development parcel but cannot safely make full use of it until the adjoining building and materials entering from that building have been professionally assessed and, where necessary, stabilized and remediated,” the complaint reads.

Natraj S. Bhushan, an attorney for Karan and the building, tells me Bender’s lawsuit is “pure fiction and classic gaslighting” meant to distract from the neglect at 703. He claimed that pond surface runoff from the lot had seeped into the foundation at No. 705 and damaged the property, but instead of coordinating access to the lot for necessary repairs, the developer has alleged “unsubstantiated” environmental hazards in Karan’s building, including “complete fabrications” about asbestos and lead. “The real hazard to this neighborhood has always been 703’s neglected lot,” he says, “and we will continue to push forward with our legal remedies to hold them accountable.”

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