Ben Ashkenazy and the Gindi family have settled one of real estate’s most contentious legal battles.
The litigation between the New York City real estate developer and the family behind the retailer Century 21 began almost four years ago and sent shockwaves throughout the tightly-knit Syrian Jewish community, where disputes are generally resolved internally.
Ashkenazy alleged the Gindis — Raymond and his cousins Eddie and Isaac — failed to pay up on capital calls on several retail properties they owned together, starving him of cash. Ashkenazy further alleged that the Gindis defamed him within the community. The Gindis alleged it was Ashkenazy who owed them money.
But the juiciest parts of the litigation were the text message exchanges between Ashkenazy and Raymond Gindi. In one, Ashkenazy called Gindi “a schmuck” whom he “can’t wait to punish.”
“I’m going to crush you for damages you have caused me,” Ashkenazy told Gindi.
People within the community and outside it sought to resolve the feud after seeing the headlines.
Charlie Kushner pleaded with Gindi and Ashkenazy in a late 2020 email to “stop the fighting” and offered to help them come to an agreement.
“I know from personal experience that these fights have a life of their own and rarely end with a good conclusion,” wrote Kushner. (Kushner is famously estranged from his brother, Murray, and went to prison in 2005 in part because of a dispute with his sister, Esther Schulder.)
Instead, the feud heightened. Ashkenazy filed another lawsuit against the Gindis, alleging they owed money on a $10 million loan he provided. The Gindis countered it was not a loan, but rather a placeholder to record distributions from a cash-out refinancing made years ago.
By the summer of 2023, the Gindis replaced their legal counsel with Darren and Terrence Oved, who themselves are members of the Syrian Jewish community and known for coming into heated real estate litigation involving families. Since then, the two sides appear to have worked toward a settlement.
“Despite certain contentious moments, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the result is positive, cordial and each side wishes the other continued success,” Ashkenazy and the Gindis said in a joint statement. “The parties thank Terrence Oved, Darren Oved and David Kriss for their exceptional efforts in succeeding, where others have not, in securing this amicable resolution.”
