Initial Promise: Perhaps no project embodied Stern’s audacity like 111 West 57th Street – known as Steinway Tower. Rising 1,428 feet above Midtown and barely 60 feet wide, this 84-story pencil-thin skyscraper was conceived as the ultimate Billionaires’ Row trophy. Stern teamed with Property Markets Group in 2013 to buy the historic Steinway piano building and air rights, unveiling plans for the world’s skinniest supertall condo tower. The ambition was breathtaking: marry new ultra-luxury construction with the restored 1920s Steinway Hall, delivering full-floor residences overlooking Central Park at prices above $50 million each. Initial marketing declared the project would “alter the Midtown skyline” and set a new bar for opulence, with amenities like a private porte-cochère and a residents-only concert hall. By mid-2015, foreign investors and a major equity partner, AmBase Corporation, poured money into the venture, enticed by the projected $1+ billion sellout and Stern’s track record at Walker Tower. Groundbreaking began amid much hype, positioning Stern as a visionary reshaping Manhattan’s silhouette.

Failures and Controversies: What followed was a textbook example of a project derailed by infighting, ballooning costs, and courtroom battles. Construction proved slow and daunting, and by 2016 the project was in trouble. AmBase – the investment firm that had put up about $70 million for a 59% stake – accused Stern and his partner of engineering “an elaborate and long-running fraudulent scheme” to dilute AmBase’s interest and steal the project. According to AmBase’s lawsuit, Stern and co-developer Kevin Maloney secretly obtained additional funding (including a high-interest mezzanine loan) that pushed the venture into a forced foreclosure, wiping out AmBase’s stake. In 2017, the developers’ junior lender foreclosed on the equity, and AmBase lost its entire investment. AmBase’s litigation – which even alleged racketeering (RICO) by Stern and Maloney – dragged on for years but ultimately failed in court. A federal judge dismissed the claims in 2018, yet the damage to Stern’s reputation was done: his own financial partner painted him as a conniving operator who cheats stakeholders.AmBase wasn’t the only party crying foul. The tower’s first sales team, Corcoran Sunshine, sued JDS and partners in 2018 for self-sabotage – claiming the developers’ internal “infighting and a battery of lawsuits ‘undermined and frustrated’” efforts to sell units. Corcoran accused Stern’s team of essentially torpedoing their own project: halting sales during a soft market, firing the marketing staff without cause, and letting the project’s legal and financing troubles scare off buyers. Indeed, through 2017–2018, 111 West 57th was engulfed in negative press about its lawsuits and funding woes, and few units sold off-plan. (The developers, for their part, switched to a new brokerage and blamed Corcoran for underperformance.) There were also reports of contractor disputes and cost overruns. The budget, initially around $800 million, reportedly swelled toward $1 billion as engineering challenges mounted. By the time Steinway Tower was finally completed in 2021 – four years behind the original schedule – it was seen as a symbol of Manhattan’s excesses. Many of its ultra-rich target buyers had evaporated, leaving a number of condos unsold and forcing heavy marketing incentives. Stern did manage to finish this extraordinary skyscraper, but at great cost. The investor losses were very real (a small Connecticut firm lost tens of millions, nearly going bankrupt), and the project’s profit potential was severely undercut by years of delay and legal expense. Steinway Tower stands today as an architectural marvel – and a cautionary tale of how a “dream” development can implode for those behind the scenes.

We hope that interested parties will send us any available information and documents exposing Stern’s fraudulent activities.