Herbert Sukenik Secured $17 Million

In 2004, four elderly tenants refused to leave their rent-controlled homes in Manhattan's Mayflower Hotel after the Zeckendorf brothers bought it for $400 million and planned to transform it into the exclusive 15 Central Park West. Their leases prevented the developers from evicting them, so the brothers paid all four to move. The final holdout, a 73-year-old man named Herbert Sukenik, remained in his mold-covered, 350-square-foot room for two years before reportedly accepting $17 million. He also received lifetime use of a $2 million apartment in Essex House for just $1 a month in rent.

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