New York Times
Colin Moynihan
Colin Moynihan
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| Lenny Labanco is still allowing some people to organize events at 56 Walker Street. |
In the second-floor room with the green walls, Lenny Charles Labanco pointed to where the news desk sat, and the television cameras once stood. Nearly 10 years ago, he started an organization called International News Net World Report, which from that room produced hundreds of 30-minute programs, which were broadcast on satellite television.
The programs never made much money, but survived in large part because the building where they were made, at 56 Walker Street in TriBeCa, was owned by a supporter who charged minimal rent for the use of the studio and the lower floors where Mr. Labanco and others organized readings, panel discussions and fund-raisers, often for left-leaning causes.
The programs never made much money, but survived in large part because the building where they were made, at 56 Walker Street in TriBeCa, was owned by a supporter who charged minimal rent for the use of the studio and the lower floors where Mr. Labanco and others organized readings, panel discussions and fund-raisers, often for left-leaning causes.
Now, though, Mr. Labanco has suspended the programs, and the future of the Walker Street building is in doubt. A loan agreement signed in 2007 by the building’s owner, Guy Morris, resulted in foreclosure proceedings, and the entity that owns the building, 56 Walker Street L.L.C., has declared bankruptcy.
The lenders, Broadway Bank and Wexford/HPC Mortgage Company, an affiliate of WexTrust Capital, did not provide all the money they had promised, Mr. Morris said. Eventually, WexTrust went into receivership, and two of its top executives pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges. Broadway Bank in Chicago subsequently was shut down under the supervision of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. That agency then transferred the loan to a second bank, MB Financial, which has asked a federal bankruptcy judge in New York for permission to foreclose.
In response, Mr. Morris wrote to MB Financial officials, saying that the loan was “invalid and void” because of fraud connected to the original lenders and that the foreclosure should be called off.
Last week, according to both parties, the judge overseeing the bankruptcy appointed a Chapter 11 trustee expected to replace Mr. Morris and the building’s current management. Mr. Morris said he welcomed the move because it could present an opportunity to examine the loan’s history.
“It was quite positive, I think,” Mr. Morris said.
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