{"id":1437,"date":"2026-06-07T09:35:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T09:35:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1437"},"modified":"2026-06-07T09:35:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T09:35:33","slug":"exclusive-nyc-councilwoman-and-congressional-candidate-julie-won-squatted-in-luxury-queens-condo-landlord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1437","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive | NYC Councilwoman and congressional candidate Julie Won ‘squatted’ in luxury Queens condo: landlord"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

An NYC councilwoman running for Congress owes $25,000 in back rent after squatting for five months in a luxury high-rise, according to her ex-landlord and court documents.<\/p>\n

Read more Chicago radio host rips Knicks fans as \u2018most obnoxious\u2019 in American sports<\/a><\/p>\n

Councilwoman Julie Won (D-Queens) and her family vacated a one-bedroom condo at\u00a0swanky Skyline Towers on Long Island City\u2019s waterfront on Monday \u2014 three days after being slapped with eviction papers by the condo\u2019s owner, Justin Chae, a top NYC political consultant and former family friend.<\/p>\n

The gleaming-glass, 67-story skyscraper includes a fitness center with a swimming pool, a sauna and spa, a yoga room, and other A-list amenities.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, Won insisted to The Post that she and her political strategist husband Eugene Noh never signed any lease on the luxury pad, claiming Chae forged her name onto a bogus lease agreement.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chae, whose unit is valued at nearly $1 million, said he agreed to let the power couple and their two young children move in rent-free in November 2024, under a one-year lease that he shared with The Post.<\/p>\n

He offered the free rent as a bonus to Noh, a fellow Korean-American, for agreeing to work as vice president of campaigns at Chae\u2019s company, Legion Outreach Consultants. Their families have known each other since the 1980s, Chae said.<\/p>\n

The business relationship never worked out, and Noh\u2019s employment was terminated on June 26, according to the petition Chae filed in Queens Housing Court.<\/p>\n

Chae told The Post he agreed to let the family reside there rent-free until the end of 2025 and then charge $5,000 monthly rent if they wanted to stay.<\/p>\n

However, the couple never paid a cent and started \u201cghosting\u201d Chae in April by ignoring calls and other messages, the landlord claims.<\/p>\n

Chae said he plans to file additional court papers seeking $25,000 owed in rent for the first five months of the year.\u00a0There\u2019s a hearing on the case scheduled for June 30.<\/p>\n

\u201cChae can\u2019t believe his friends would take advantage of him this way,\u201d said his spokesman, longtime Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf.<\/p>\n

Won, however, accused Chae of \u201cpolitically extorting her\u201d while she\u2019s running for higher office and predicted the lease agreement he provided to The Post will never hold up in court. She also threatened to countersue him over a \u201cclearly political smear job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more How Knicks are bringing Victor Wembanyama, Spurs into \u2018difficult areas\u2019 early in NBA Finals<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a gross misrepresentation of reality but unfortunately thousands of families face the same kind of intimidation and abuse by landlords across the city,\u201d she said. \u201cI look forward to setting the record straight in court especially since there\u2019s no executed lease \u2014 nor has there been a service of a predicate notice as required by law.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Won failed to address an Oct. 17, 2024 email exchange between Chae and Noh provided to The Post that shows her husband saying he \u201csigned\u201d the lease \u2014 and whether it\u2019s possible he also signed her name, too. The couple also didn\u2019t address allegations that they never paid rent.<\/p>\n

Won, who is running in a crowded field in the June 23 Democratic primary to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez in New York\u2019s 7th Congressional District (covering parts of Queens and Brooklyn), claimed in a May 26 interview published by The New York Editorial Board that she and her husband currently pay \u201cover $4,000\u201d monthly for rent.<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t mention her ongoing landlord-tenant dispute but said she moved to LIC \u201cwhere it\u2019s extremely expensive\u201d because \u201cCouncil security\u201d suggested she enroll her \u201cchildren in a school where there\u2019s more Asian children, so that they can blend in more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Won \u2014 who represents LIC, Sunnyside and other parts of Western Queens \u2014 earns $148,500 annually.<\/p>\n

Noh reportedly planned to buy out parts of Chae\u2019s consulting business last year, but Chae said they never agreed to a deal.<\/p>\n

Noh now operates his own political consulting business similar in name to Chae\u2019s \u2014 called Legion Consulting. It\u2019s earned $268,696 in city, state and federal campaign work since August, according to records.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Noh\u2019s biggest client since breaking off from Chae is ex-Mayor Eric Adams. He racked up $104,735 in payments working as Adams\u2019 contracted campaign manager during the Democratic ex-mayor\u2019s failed 2025 re-election bid as an independent.<\/p>\n

Won, a member of the Council\u2019s Progressive Caucus, endorsed now-Mayor Zohran Mamdani in last year\u2019s Democratic primary.<\/p>\n

The couple claimed to QNS.com in July that they were unfairly targeted by \u201csexist\u201d and \u201cmisogynistic\u201d media scrutiny of their relationship because they backed different mayoral candidates.<\/p>\n

Vel\u00e1zquez has endorsed Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso to succeed her, while Mamdani is backing fellow socialist and state Assemblywoman Claire Valdez (D-Queens). <\/p>\n

Read more For a faster vote count in California, look to the Supreme Court<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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