New wrinkle in TechCity tax case
Bankruptcy declared for portion of ex-IBM site that judge recently awarded to Ulster County
TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. >> The Alan Ginsberg-owned company Ulster Business Complex LLC has initiated Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings for the portion of its TechCity property that used to be leased by Bank of America.
The filing, dated Nov. 3, was made in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Poughkeepsie just after a ruling was issued in Ulster County Court that gave the county permission to take possession of the Bank of America site and an adjacent parcel due to nonpayment of taxes.
The second parcel is not part of the bankruptcy filing, which is to be the subject of an initial court conference on Dec. 3.
Town of Ulster Supervisor James Quigley said the bankruptcy proceeding is likely to stall any plans the county might have for the site.
“The deed [for county owner
ship] was filed on Friday morning [Nov. 1] ... but, as usual, nothing is easy,” Quigley said. “Mr. Ginsberg had his business entity, Ulster Business Complex LLC, in bankruptcy on Sunday afternoon.”
County Executive Pat Ryan said in a prepared statement Friday that Ginsberg “has made several attempts to prolong these proceedings, and this appears to be a continuation of that effort.”
“However,” Ryan said, “the property was legally transferred to Ulster County on Nov. 1. We are confident that we have
acted within the confines of the law, and we will continue to push aggressively to assert control over this property so that we can return it to a use that benefits all residents of Ulster County.”
Ginsberg, who lists his primary address as 6899 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, Fla., has long been a thorn in the side of local entities to whom he owes money, often not paying property taxes, utility bills and bank loans related to TechCity.
Ulster Business Complex LLC currently owes a total of $2.65 million in overdue county, town and school district taxes for the Bank of America site for the period of the past three years. It also owes $743,491 for the current year.
The multibuilding TechCity complex, which was an IBM facility until 1995 and was bought by Ginsberg in 1998, straddles Enterprise Drive in the town of Ulster. The building where Bank of America leased space, as well as the other parcel awarded to the county, are on the west side of the road, at 101-103 Enterprise Drive.
Bank of America processed New York state income tax returns at TechCity until shutting down the operation in 2012.
The bankruptcy filing lists 11 creditors, including Ginsburg himself, to whom money is owed by Ulster Business Complex LLC in regard to the Bank of America site.
The others others are
Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp., Ulster County, the County Attorney’s Office, the Kingston school district, the city of Kingston Water Department, the law office of Albert Natoli, McGrath Management Services, McGrath Realty, the state Department of Environmental Conservation, and the town of Ulster.
Quigley said because the bankruptcy filing came after the county deed filing, Ginsberg probably will have to prove to the court that the case should delay the ownership change.
For the town of Ulster, Quigley said “the primary concern ... in looking at the bankruptcy is that this is a matter of time being lost for something that could be a benefit to the town.”