Erica Terwillegar and her partner, Peter Molinari, are fighting to hold on to their $26,000-a-month condo at one of New York’s most exclusive addresses.
asserted
Terwillegar → fight → addresses
The owners accuse the pair of living rent-free after their lease expired and scuttling a $6.75 million sale of the unit.
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lease → accuse → unit
The standoff is playing out at 150 Charles Street, the celebrity-favored West Village building.
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standoff → play → Street
Terwillegar, a jewelry designer who competed for Team USA at the 1988 and 1992 Winter Olympics, is still living in the apartment with Molinari as owners Cathy Crane and Salvatore Trentalancia try to take it back.
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Crane → compete → it
A doorman confirmed to The Post on Thursday that the couple still live there.
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couple → confirm → Thursday
Outside, chauffeurs waited in front of the upscale property, which has attracted buyers including Ben Stiller and Jon Bon Jovi, according to Curbed, who first broke the story.
uncertain
who → wait → story
According to the owners’ July complaint, Terwillegar’s lease ran from Aug. 22, 2024, through July 31, 2025, at $26,000 a month.
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lease → accord → 26,000
Her mother, Andrea, also lives in the apartment and is named in the suit alongside Molinari.
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mother → live → Molinari
The owners acknowledge that the base rent was paid during the original lease.
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rent → acknowledge → lease
But they allege utilities went unpaid — and that rent payments stopped after the lease expired.
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lease → allege → ?
Terwillegar says she renewed for another year, according to the complaint.
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she → say → complaint
The owners say she needed their agreement to do so.
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she → say → agreement
Now they want $624,000 for the year through July 2026, pointing to a lease provision that doubles the rent for tenants who overstay.
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who → want → tenants
Alternatively, they’re seeking $327,600 in rent or payment for the occupants’ continued stay.
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they → seek → stay
They’re also demanding at least $30,000 for utilities and other charges, at least $100,000 in legal fees and $250,000 in punitive damages.
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They → demand → damages
The owners allege they had a buyer willing to pay that amount — provided the buyer could actually see the apartment.
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buyer → allege → apartment
They say the occupants repeatedly refused access, torpedoing the deal.
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occupants → say → deal
The tenants tell a very different story.
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tenants → tell → story
In an interview with The Post, the couple and their attorney, Colleen Kerwick, maintained that payments were made on time and described an apartment cluttered with the owners’ belongings which meant the occupants couldn’t use the cabinets and drawers.
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occupants → maintain → cabinets
Kerwick also questioned whether the prospective buyer was real.
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buyer → question → ?
The owners dispute the couple’s description of the apartment.
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owners → dispute → apartment
Whatever his complaints about the place, Molinari was clear about wanting to keep the address.
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Molinari → want → address
“Once I got into 150 Charles,” Molinari told the Curbed, “I wasn’t leaving.”
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I → get → Curbed
The couple’s courtroom history stretches beyond Charles Street.
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history → stretch → Street
The Post counts 19 lawsuits.
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Post → count → lawsuits
At their previous rental at 166 Perry Street, the landlord also alleged in a May 2023 complaint that they stayed after their lease expired in November 2022.
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lease → allege → November
That apartment cost $11,000 a month.
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apartment → cost → 11,000
The landlord sought at least $66,000 in unpaid charges, ongoing monthly payments and at least $25,000 in legal fees.
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landlord → seek → fees
Terwillegar argued that they had been negotiating to buy the apartment and had become month-to-month tenants.
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they → argue → month
That the fight ended in an undisclosed settlement in August 2024, according to court documents obtained by The Post.
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fight → end → Post
And the couple isn’t always on the receiving end of a lawsuit.
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couple → receive → lawsuit
In 2007, Molinari sued over a sidewalk fall outside a different building, at 167 Perry Street, where he was a co-op shareholder.
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he → sue → Street
He alleged that uneven pavement caused a January 2004 fall that left him with a broken ankle.
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that → allege → ankle
A judge refused to throw out the suit against the building’s owner and manager in 2012, saying disputed facts needed to be sorted out at trial.
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facts → refuse → trial
That ruling does not show whether he ultimately received any money.
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he → show → money
In July 2025, the couple sued Barry Leistner, a New York construction executive and investor who heads structural-steel company Koenig Iron Works, for at least $30 million in lost earnings over a disputed debt.
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who → sue → debt
They allege he obtained a judgment against them in November 2012 by physically cutting and pasting their signatures from another document onto a “confession of judgment” — a document acknowledging a debt — and submitting forged papers claiming they had been served.
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they → allege → papers
Terwillegar had given Leistner jewelry and gemstones they value at roughly $750,000 as security for that debt, according to their complaint.
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they → give → complaint
They now want those items returned and say the judgment was vacated in March 2024 on grounds of fraud and forgery.
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judgment → want → fraud
A September filing shows Leistner was seeking dismissal of their lawsuit and that the parties had discussed a settlement.
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parties → show → settlement
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
