Auction Cancelled for 2 Chinatown Buildings that Bank Said Defaulted on $13.2M in Loans
An auction for the two buildings that was set for Jan. 8 was cancelled at the 11th hour by Judge Francis Kahn, who vacated the order. The parties in the original auction included plaintiff Global Bank and defendants Kevin Ye and Ping Cheung. They are now due back in court Feb. 25.
| 10 Jan 2025 | 03:16
A street view of 43 and 45 Mott Street in Chinatown, featuring Cha Kee restaurant on the left and the shuttered storefront of 45 Mott Street, home to Mission Chinese Food and Basement speakeasy. Screenshot via Google Maps Street View. (
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Two Chinatown buildings that a bank said defaulted on $13.2 million in loans were set to be auctioned on Jan. 8 following a foreclosure, according to court records but two days before the auction was to take place a judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the sale.
Judge Francis Kahn vacated the order, which was first reported by Crain’s New York Business and confirmed by Our Town Downtown. The parties, include plaintiff Global Bank and defendants Kevin Ye and Ping Cheung, who are now due back in court Feb. 25.
The defendants, who had been under a court order to vacate the premises, have now halted the action. According the judge;s ruling, the bank is “temporarily restrained and enjoined from enforcing or otherwise executing upon the aforesaid judgment, including but not limited to any auction scheduled for the real property that is the subject of the aforesaid judgment, pending a resolution of the application to vacate.”
“It is hereby further ordered, that, for the avoidance of doubt, the auction scheduled for January 8, 2025 is hereby stayed and adjourned until further order of this Court, Judge Kahn ruled.
The temporary restraining order said that the defendants were required to post a $250,000 undertaking or cash deposit by the date of the original auction.
The properties at 43 and 45 Mott St., located between Bayard and Pell streets, are home to two restaurants and one speakeasy.
Global Bank had taken control of two foreclosure cases involving properties at the two addresses. Originally, NewBank filed the first lawsuit after the owners defaulted on a $1.2 million loan, leaving nearly $471,000 unpaid. Global Bank later filed its own case and consolidated the claims, seeking a total of $13.2 million, which includes interest, legal fees, and other costs.
The court initially ruled in Global Bank’s favor, setting the ball in motion for the properties to be sold at auction that were suddenly halted on Jan. 7.
None of the involved returned requests for comment by press time.
The six-story building at 43 Mott St. houses Cha Kee, a Japanese-accented Cantonese restaurant, with 16 rental apartments above it. Next door, the five-story building at 45 Mott St. hosts chef Danny Bowien’s Mission Chinese Food, the popular thematic speakeasy bar Basement, and 11 residential units on its upper floors.
No apartments in either building are currently listed for rent. A studio at 43 Mott Street rented for $2,050 in July 2024, and a one-bedroom was leased for $2,450 in May 2024, according to StreetEasy.
Records show the buildings were purchased in 2016 for $8.2 million by 43 Mott Realty Owner LLC and Tai Cheung Realty Inc., with Kevin Ye and Ping Cheung mentioned in both deeds and court records.