A chiropractor and his wife who are regulars on the Hamptons social scene are breaking their Manhattan landlord’s back — failing to pay $349,000 in rent on a posh Upper East Side townhouse, according to a lawsuit filed by their landlord.
Darren Pollack, who along with his wife Shannon Russo moved into the $5 million East 84th Street home just blocks from Gracie Mansion in November 2019, agreed to shell out $19,000 a month during a two-year lease, according to the lawsuit.
But the couple, who own a $2 million Southampton house and send their two kids to a $56,000-a-year Manhattan prep school, stopped paying the rent once the pandemic hit in March 2020, claims landlord Morris Gad, a well-known diamond dealer. The court later ruled that, even though the couple live together, Shannon “did not sign the lease and is not bound by its terms.”
Gad, who bought the 1890 row house as an investment with his adult children Michael Gad and Sara Tsur, said he tried to work with Pollack — who court records show have been accused of stiffing another landlord, fellow chiropractors and even American Express.
Faced with their own expenses from the property, including $31,000 in tax bills, the landlords offered Pollack a rent credit of $9,000 for eight months if he would agree to resume paying the full rent in January 2021 for the 3,300-square-foot, four-bedroom home, which features 3.5 baths, a chef’s kitchen and a garden.
But Pollack, who claimed his chiropractic practice was “destroyed” by coronavirus shutdowns, apparently never signed the agreement to cement the cheaper rate and stopped paying altogether once the Gads sued them in October 2020 for the full rent, the landlords charge.
“Not only is he bilking them and living rent-free, but thumbing his nose at them,” said attorney Christina Smyth, who reps the Gads.
The chiropractor claims through a lawyer that he honored the new deal for a reduced rent until the Gads “despicably” sued, said Pollack attorney Gregory Skiff, adding the Gads “pretended like the agreement to reduce the rent never happened.”
Pollack has also shelled out thousands for repairs to a backed-up sewer line and new molding to keep out mice. They paid $7,773 for drapes, according to court papers.
Any repairs the Pollacks requested were made right away, the landlords told The Post.
With New York’s pandemic-inspired eviction moratorium in place until Jan. 15, the Pollacks have simply stayed put, failing to pay and refusing to leave.
But that hasn’t stopped the pair from spending time in the Hamptons and traveling to Florida, according to social media.
“They are abusing the system,” Smyth observed.
The Pollacks are no strangers to financial disputes.
The couple’s Dasha Wellness spa and event space, where Pollack had his chiropractic practice, got $107,000 in pandemic loans to pay its employees at their wellness space at 115 E. 57th St., while allegedly failing to pay their company’s landlord more than $142,000 at Dasha’s 28 W. 44th St. location, court and government records show.
Pollack has also been sued by two former chiropractic colleagues who have accused him in court papers of taking extra funds — with one winning a judgment for more than $50,000. And in July 2016 after being sued by American Express Pollack agreed to pay a $94,269 debt.
Editor’s Note; Gad and the Pollacks settled the lawsuit over the East 84th Street property and filed a stipulation of discontinuance on April 4, 2022.
