Original Mission Chinese Landlord Files Countersuit Against Danny Bowien Over Rodent Infestation

After Danny Bowien shuttered Mission Chinese last year following a series of failed Health Department inspections, he filed a lawsuit against landlord Abraham Noy for leasing him the doomed space. Bowien claims that the landlord did not bring the building up to code and refused to make the necessary repairs, which directly caused the rodent infestation. Bowien and his partners are now suing for $500,000, claiming Noy caused "immeasurable harm to [the restaurateurs'] reputations and brand."

Now Noy has filed a countersuit that blames Mission Chinese for causing the rodent problem, and cites the DOH report directly as proof. According to the landlord, the mice proliferated only as a result of the violations listed by the DOH, including "unclean surfaces, open garbage cans, dented cans of food and improperly refrigerated supplies." The lawsuit also claims Mission Chinese owes a "$164,000 tab in unpaid rent, taxes, water bills and other various fees," and that the space was left "in a state of filth and mess," when it shuttered for good last summer. The litigants are due in court later this month, and in the meantime a lawyer for the Mission Chinese team tells the Post that they "wish to let this play out in the courtroom rather than public opinion." Meanwhile, Bowien is hard at work on the new Mission Chinese, set to reopen in the old Rosette space on East Broadway later this year.