The Post is reporting that the celebrity chef Todd English, who created the food court at The Plaza, is taking the ground floor and basement of 15 Park Row for a food court. You might recall that at one point Michael Dorf was planning a third NYC venue there that would have celebrated its original use — J&R Music World — but he was forced to abandon those plans during the pandemic.

The space is 20,000 square feet, according to The Post, which added that English just launched a hotel in Las Vegas, a food court in Stamford, Conn., and restaurants in West Palm Beach and Washington, D.C.

But there is some not-so-fun news emerging from upstairs, in the residential part of the building. Over the years I have gotten many complaints from neighbors there, but this is the first time that I know of that they have organized to complain as a group to the landlord — and to me. (They used the OneRoof app to create the group.)

The most recent issue: no cooking gas, which also affects the laundry dryers, and no word on when it will be back. Con Ed confirmed that they shut off gas at the building at Feb. 15 due to corrosion on piping. “We are working with the customer’s contractor to resolve it,” their rep said and could not estimate a date for when it would return.

For residents, this seems like it may be the last straw.

“We want a reduction in rent or an exact timeline of when we will get these services back,” one tenant told me. “People who moved in six months are devastated — they thought they were moving into a luxury building. It’s not funny, but it’s akin to being a squatter. I feel like our group is very logical – we just want a reduction in rent to offset the cost of eating out or getting appliances, or outsourcing our laundry.”

“The apartments are well sized and the location is great, but you lease your apartment assuming you will get your basic needs,” she added. “When those needs are not being met, then it’s not about money — it’s about fairness. That’s not what we agreed on when we signed the lease.”

Tenants also complain about malfunctioning elevators and low water temperatures, and the building did not have heat at one point last month. There are hundreds of complaints and violations filed with Department of Buildings over the past decade, most of which have been resolved or dismissed. But several are still active, including this one: “Four elevators are not working properly. I was stuck in the elevator with my support animal and a neighbor and then started randomly falling/dropping back to the 1st.”

Residents are considering taking legal action and are looking for a lawyer, though nothing has been filed yet since as a group they would rather negotiate with the landlord directly. They are also planning to form a tenants association. Of the 330-or-so units, the group has 172 members in the discussion group.

The building was landmarked in 1999. When it was built a hundred years earlier, it was the tallest building in the world and would hold that title for another nine years.

The founders of J&R Music World — Joe and Rachelle Friedman — acquired it in ’90s, along with the rest of Park Row, and by 2002 most floors were converted to residential. The Friedmans sold the building in January 2021 to Atlas Capital Group for $140 million, according to The Real Deal. (City records show the cupola apartments at the top are condos and sold separately.) At that time, they reported that the building was half empty, post pandemic, which is why it sold so low.