Luxury NYC apartment building staff accused of brawls, sexual harassment

By Tim McNicholas, Walter Smith Randolph

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    NEW YORK CITY, New York (WCBS) — Some tenants and employees say there’s been fist fights, threats from coworkers, and sexual harassment at one of New York City’s largest apartment buildings.

The Max apartment complex is located at 57th Street and 11th Avenue. Its owners, TF Cornerstone, promise “the best in luxury living in Midtown West.”

Former maintenance workers Kenrick Gayle and Dane Gomez say working there was anything but luxurious. “Threw me on the floor, and started pummeling,” Gomez said.

“He ran and started assaulting me, too,” Gayle said of a co-worker.

They allege they were attacked by four of their coworkers in 2022, tearing ligaments in Gayle’s foot and bruising his eye. They allege it started when an employee punched Gomez. Then they say another employee joined the attack on Gomez.

Gayle and Gomez say one of those employees plus two other workers then started to attack Gayle.

“Punching me, hitting me, kicking me. I left out of there with severe injuries,” Gayle said.

Both said they were fired afterward, although a judge in Gayle’s workers compensation case noted Gayle “did not initiate the brawl” and “the employer was aware that the two employees who initiated the brawl had a history of animosity toward one another, and the employer failed to take any action to separate these individuals.”

A letter notifying Gayle of his termination said it was a result the brawl “and additional misconduct,” which the letter doesn’t specify.

Gayle and Gomez have filed a lawsuit against TF Cornerstone.

“It was a lot of buildup there. The culture was very bad. It was bound to happen,” Gayle said.

Sexual harassment allegations Two other former Max employees have each sued and entered into settlement agreements with TF Cornerstone since the building opened in 2018, both alleging coworkers sexually harassed them. One employee said in a lawsuit that a maintenance worker would “look at her crotch” and make inappropriate comments.

A tenant who asked to remain anonymous made similar complaints to management about another employee, a doorman.

“He started looking at my crotch, like, staring at my crotch. I’m coming into the building, and he’s like, ‘Hi.’ Deliberately staring at my crotch, and he did this several times. And I just remember feeling so angry and just, like, violated,” the tenant said.

TF Cornerstone started eviction proceedings against her, claiming she made a “litany of… unfounded complaints directed at a long-term member of building staff with no history of any form of misconduct.”

“Nothing’s changed” The company would not agree to an interview with CBS News New York.

“We are committed to being an equal opportunity employer and a fair housing provider. Our organization maintains strict policies prohibiting discrimination and harassment, including those outlined in the collective bargaining agreement that governs most of our building service workers. While we cannot comment on ongoing litigation, we remain steadfast in our commitment to fostering a workplace and community that upholds fairness, respect, and adherence to established policies,” a spokesperson for the building said in a statement.

That’s not how Gayle sees it. He shared videos which he says show the aftermath of a man pepper-spraying a coworker over another dispute, and employees playing a ring-toss game with sex toys in a break room. At least some of the videos were posted online.

“There’s still a lot of stuff going on in the building to this day. I’ve got friends there that’s still going through it. Nothing’s changed,” Gayle said.

“I would definitely like to see that there be procedures put in place to ensure that no one has to experience what I’ve experienced. I’d like some accountability for the way that I’ve been treated in my home,” the tenant said.

CBS News New York asked TF Cornerstone which, if any, of the employees accused of misconduct still work there, and we have not gotten a response.

The company receives a partial tax exemption for that property. That’s because they agreed to include affordable units in the building, including the apartment of the tenant we interviewed.

The building management’s case against her is still ongoing in eviction court, and she says for now she is living at The Max with no lease as she searches for a new home.

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