A trans woman has allegedly transformed her Upper West Side pad into a seedy brothel with men waiting in the halls, claims the landlord, who accused her of squatting in the apartment for over a year.
Josephine Tell, 37, has been operating an $ 800-an-hour escort business out of 9 West 73rd St., where she owes $52,150 for 15 months of unpaid rent, according to court documents filed by the building’s management company.
Johns line the hallway outside Tell’s ground-floor home just steps from Central Park, the building’s management company contends, citing complaints from residents.
Neighbors have griped about loud music pumping from the three-bedroom, $3,000-a-month pad at night, along with the sounds of furniture being shuffled around.
“At 2 a.m., I’m usually hearing stomping and the moving of furniture and music,” one resident told The Post.
“You see the high traffic, lots of different men,” the neighbor added.
The sleazy situation came to light after Tell’s landlord, 9 West 73rd Street LLC, sued her in April 2022 for allegedly failing to pay rent, including the brothel accusations in their Manhattan Housing Court filing.
The building is a “beautiful, landmarked brownstone off Central Park West, whose character has completely changed because of the brothel,” building manager Rick Elezi wrote in court papers.
Residents have been leaving in droves because of the alleged brothel, Elezi claimed, noting police have been called to remove the johns on numerous occasions.
Tell’s online ads, which were included in court records, offer services out of her “private, upscale apartment.”
“I am truly a rarity here,” the ad begins.
“In addition to modelesque looks, I’m free-spirited, educated, and well-traveled … I relish the excitement of encounters with the unknown. I find anonymous interactions highly liberating and the key to discovering secret desires and fantasies.
“One of my true passions in life is the art of seduction and I truly love what I do,” she continues in the online ad, promising “customized encounters” for men, women, or couples for $800 for one hour, $1,400 for two and $2,000 for three from her place.
Tell describes herself as a “transsexual” and says she is “avail 4 Incall/Outcall, Modeling, Roleplay, Dates Out, Events, Light Fetish/BDSM, Extended Visit and LT Arrangements,” according to the ad on the Models World website.
An NYPD investigation into the brothel allegations was allegedly dropped, Elezi wrote in court papers, which included screenshots of a resident’s texts with a detective who claimed sending an undercover officer to make an arrest would “do no good as the Manhattan District Attorney does not prosecute for the crime of prostitution.”
D.A. Alvin Bragg’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Tell, 37, who has denied the allegations, said she’s always paid her rent during the three years she’s lived in the building.
She works in fashion, she said.
The accusations are a bid to harass Tell out of the building because she’s trans, and in retaliation for her allegation that the building’s superintendent sexually assaulted her in June 2022, she claimed in her own lawsuit filed on Jan. 16 against the city and the NYPD.
The NYPD, which did not comment on the prostitution allegations, said it had no record of an assault report at the building for the day Tell claims she was attacked.
Tell is suing in a bid to identify her “false accusers,” including the names of officers involved in the purported NYPD investigation.
Management denied what it called “scandalous allegations regarding a purported rape,” according to court papers.
The city Law Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.