The Intent Tenant of 54th Street

Horace Tumbell, a Manhattan resident of a rent-stabilized building at 261 West 54th Street for the last 23 years plans on staying just a bit longer. Despite the fact that a 39 story skyscraper is underway around him, he is not underway himself. That’s because Mr. Tumbell, the last of the building’s residents, is holding out for enough cash to buy a one bedroom midtown apartment (estimated to be $600,000-$900,000), hopefully on a more stable block. So far, a buyout settlement has been impossible for the two sides to agree on. The builder plans to refuse to renew his lease come October. Mr. Tumbell threatens to delay the project in court for years if they do. I wonder. In a few months, won’t the book and movie rights enable Mr. Tumbell to buy the new 39 story building?