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New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard issued a strong response to a lawsuit from his landlord in New York City over the fact that he is allegedly refusing to pay rent for an apartment in Manhattan.
According to the lawsuit, the landlord is asking Syndergaard to pay $250,000 for breach of contract and associated fees.
Syndergaard, currently on the mend from Tommy John surgery, leased the property in February with the rental agreement running from March through November at a cost of of $225,000, plus a $17,000 broker’s commission.
Syndergaard’s attorneys, according to court documents, informed the landlord on April 30 that the right-hander “has no intention of taking possession of the subject premises and the landlord is hereby free to rerent it as he sees fit.”
Now the landlord is suing him for not paying the latest $27,000 in rent due for an apartment he has never stayed in for even one night.
Syndergaard claims he has done nothing wrong, and stated his case on Twitter, as one does in legal disputes.
“So let me get this straight,” Syndergaard stated. “I fairly, and in good faith offered to pay 2 months rent {over 50K) to a landlord for a place I was never going to step foot in due to a global pandemic that took a severe toll upon the residents of NYC, gave timely notice to attempt to try and re-rent, while getting TJ surgery and now live in Florida for rehab, and the landlord tries to extort me for 250K while leaking this story to the media, and I’m the bad guy? Yeah, ok. See you in court pal.
— Noah Syndergaard (@Noahsyndergaard) May 24, 2020
According to the lawsuit, the landlord says Syndergaard is treating “the binding lease like an option.”
David Goldfischer, the pitcher’s attorney also fired back, telling the Daily News, “We strongly dispute the allegations made against our client and intend on defending him vigorously. Noah is looking forward to his day in court and is currently focused on remaining safe and healthy during these trying times.”
The Twitterverse was not very sympathetic to the hurler’s plight, however.
https://twitter.com/GunterDawg99/status/1264742599480483845Yes. That makes you the bad guy. You signed a contract and now you don't want to pay. I understand that your situation has changed, but that doesn't release you from your obligation. Now, you want to try and bully the landlord for having the audacity to live up to your word.
— David Winters (@Takinggodtowork) May 24, 2020
The fact you can even tweet this as if the general public doesn’t have bigger issues to deal with is insensitive. Your 50k is more than many families are selling you your essential goods. Take this behind closed doors.
— Larry Hotdogs (@LarryHotdogs) May 24, 2020
This seems like the mature way to confront this
— Brian (Pinstripe Bry) (@ThatGuyBry31) May 24, 2020
Too bad Syndergaard never got a chance to live there. It is a really nice place.
https://twitter.com/chicken__puppet/status/1264372615394680838