Real Estate
UES Slipper Shop Slipped Out Of Lease Without Paying, Suit Claims
An upscale slipper company abandoned its store at the Carlyle Hotel without paying thousands in rent, the hotel claims in a lawsuit.
UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A fancy footwear shop abandoned its lease at a ritzy Upper East Side hotel, depriving its landlord of thousands of dollars in rent, the hotel alleges in a new lawsuit.
Stubbs & Wootton, a footwear company known for its embroidered slippers, opened a small shop in 2016 in the lobby of the Carlyle Hotel — the luxury residence on East 76th Street.
The company, based in Palm Beach, Fla., has risen in prominence in recent years. Prominent clients include Wilbur Ross, the billionaire and former Commerce Secretary under President Donald Trump, who was spotted wearing a $600 custom-made pair.
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Its lease at the Carlyle was scheduled to run through 2026. But on Oct. 21, 2020, Stubbs & Wootton emptied out its shop and left, delivering the hotel a letter that claimed it was abiding by the lease's terms, the hotel claims in the suit, which was filed Monday in state court.
The hotel responded days later, telling the slipper purveyor that it had no right to break the lease and demanding that it return to the hotel by December. It never returned, and the lobby shop remains empty months later, the hotel said. (Stubbs & Wootton has a different Upper East Side shop just blocks away, on Madison Avenue near East 75th Street.)
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Stubbs & Wootton owes the Carlyle more than $20,000, the hotel says — comprised of $38,853.67 in unpaid rent, minus the shop's $18,000 security deposit. The debt will continue to grow as the hotel misses out on monthly rent payments, it says.
The Carlyle is asking a court to force Stubbs & Wootton to pay its back rent with interest, plus attorney's fees and other expenses — an amount totaling at least $50,000, the hotel says. In addition to the company, the lawsuit names Stubbs & Wootton's founder, Percy Steinhart, as one of the defendants.
Stubbs & Wootton could not immediately be reached for comment.
Kathleen Culliton contributed reporting.
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