Overview:
Jensen Desrosiers and his companion Glenda Elie characteristic prominently within the 2023 New York Haitian Heritage Parade lawsuit for his or her alleged roles in connecting occasion organizers with elected officers. This report is a component 3 of three.
BROOKLYN—Earlier than transferring right into a co-working area at Brooklyn Commons over the summer time, Little Haiti BK was headquartered at 1407 Flatbush Avenue. The workplace was a part of a sprawling 3,900-square foot area rented to Glenda Y. Elie and Jensen Desrosiers for his or her enterprise, Anba Tonel Lounge & Restaurant, also referred to as “Bon Bonbon.”
The nook property at Flatbush Avenue and Rogers Avenue – throughout the road from Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn’s and Councilmember Farah Louis’s district places of work – got here to life round 2022. The constructing’s freshly renovated exterior and restaurant’s tropics-inspired motif, with a inexperienced and yellow shade palette and palm fronds on the partitions, conveys a lush Haitian countryside vibe
Since its opening, the centrally situated eatery has seen a hub of exercise, together with planning for the 2023 Haitian Heritage Parade. Desrosiers has welcomed native elected officers and visiting dignitaries to the restaurant as a part of his actions associated to the Haitian Powerhouse, described as “the gathering place of Haitian Political Energy [that] seeks to construct neighborhood engagement by way of schooling and consciousness of civic and social issues. In October, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul paid a go to that was posted on the group’s Facebook page.
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Gov. Kathy Hochul visits Anba Tonel. Images through Haitian Powerhouse Fb web page]
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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, in pink, at Anba Tonel Lounge & Restaurant, additionally referred to as “Bon Bonbon.” WIth her are Jensen Desrosiers, proper. To her left are Assemblymember and Brooklyn Get together Chief Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn and Gerard Cadet, of Little Haiti BK Inc. Each Desrosiers and Cadet are defendants within the parade lawsuit introduced by Desrosiers’ longtime buddy Lionel Lamarre.
In the meantime, the restaurant has turn out to be a defendant in two lawsuits associated to contracts, indicating some disorganization in its dealings. One is the go well with Lionel Lamarre introduced over the 2023 parade allow and reimbursement funds. The opposite is Anba Tonel’s landlord breach of contract go well with, alleging that the enterprise owed $200,922.46 in again lease and costs. Whereas the parade case goes by way of discovery, final month, a choose granted a default judgment within the again lease case, elevating the query of what occurs subsequent for the restaurant.
Elie, the only real guarantor on the lease and sole defendant in that go well with, declined to touch upon the default judgment and potential affect to Anba Tonel. By way of e-mail, she advised The Haitian Instances that the default judgment was not its concern and to as a substitute examine deed theft locally and the extra difficulties Haitian institutions appear to have in acquiring liquor licenses.
As for Lamarre‘s allegations and him calling her, Desrosiers, Haitian Powerhouse and their entourages “a most cancers” locally, Elie stated within the e-mail that Lamarre’s claims are a part of a “smear marketing campaign” in opposition to them.
“Sadly,” Elie wrote, “Haitian Powerhouse has turn out to be a sufferer to members of the neighborhood who request help on tasks, drains the group of their time, effort and assets, solely to take the entire recommendation after which run off to carry the very profitable occasions because of the assist and efforts of Haitian Powerhouse and taking all of the credit score.”
Elie went on to explain a model of the 2023 parade fallout that includes new accusations against Lamarre, his girlfriend Mahadya Mary and Garry Pierre-Pierre, founder of The Haitian Times. Both Elie’s and Lamarre’s versions, though disparate, do have one thing in common: The numerous links among Haitian-led organizations, businesses, prominent personalities and elected officials at the highest levels of government.
Anba Tonel and Haitian Powerhouse’s roles, according to Lamarre
According to Lamarre, he and Desrosiers have been close friends since their heyday with Phantoms – a 1990s era konpa djazz, or band, that Lamarre managed and for which Desrosiers was a drummer. Lamarre said he was even the best man at Desrosiers’ wedding, they were so close.
Around 2022, Desrosiers asked him to invest in the new eatery he was establishing. Lamarre said he told Desrosiers he would rather focus on making his long-held dream of a Haitian parade come true. Desrosiers said he could help and began collaborating through the Haitian Day Parade committee Lamarre formed.
How Lionel Lamarre and other organizers of the Haitian Heritage Parade in Manhattan went from collaborators to opposite sides of the courtroom
Prior to that committee forming, Lamarre said he had met in 2018 with Eric Adams, when Adams was Brooklyn Borough President, to lobby for the parade in that borough. When Adams ascended to Gracie Mansion as Mayor of New York City in 2021, Lamarre’s parade committee met with Adams’ then top aide, Ingrid Lewis-Martin. From there, they dedicated to carry the parade in Manhattan.
Round then, Lamarre and Desrosiers agreed for Lamarre to make use of a part of the Anba Tonel area because the parade occasion workplace, in keeping with Lamarre’s grievance. Lamarre included as an exhibit a 2-page rental agreement signed by him and Desrosiers agreeing to sublease a part of the property for $1,500 month-to-month from Sept. 2022 to June 2023.
However, Lamarre stated, Desrosiers refused to honor the settlement. Determined for area, Lamarre stated, he resorted to renting the workplace that served because the Little Haiti BK headquarters. Allegedly, Lamarre stated, he paid the charges to the nonprofit’s chief on the time, Jackson Rockingster.
Designers labored from that location to finish the costumes, floats and different productions in time for the June 2023 extravaganza in Manhattan.
Desrosiers and Little Haiti BK, through their lawsuit reply, deny Lamarre’s claims. Reached in early December, Desrosiers declined to remark. Nevertheless, Elie responded to a subsequent Haitian Instances e-mail with detailed questions despatched to each him and Elie.
Elie’s view of Desrosiers and his entities’ roles
Of their authorized solutions filed with the courtroom, Desrosiers and Elie admitted solely that parade conferences befell in Desrosiers’ workplace. They denied the rental settlement allegations Lamarre made concerning Little Haiti BK. Nevertheless, Elie stated in her e-mail to The Haitian Instances, she and Desrosiers lease area to quite a few teams locally, not solely Little Haiti BK, that she says will not be welcomed elsewhere locally.
In that e-mail response, Elie described Desrosiers as “a number one member of the neighborhood who has gone above and past to assist others obtain their targets.” She stated he launched the Haitian Powerhouse in Miami in the course of the 2020 presidential marketing campaign, supporting Democratic Get together efforts there to prove votes for Joe Biden, and helps quite a few teams manage occasions.
With the 2023 Haitian parade, Lionel Lamarre and a companion got here to the Haitian Powerhouse for help, Elie stated. Because the planning progressed, Lamarre sidelined the companion, after which tried to do the identical to Elie, Desrosiers and Stephanie Pierre, a 3rd defendant.
It’s the Haitian Powerhouse that introduced the parade thought to elected officers in New York and at a Nationwide Haitian American Elected Officers Community (NHAEON) convention in Arizona, held in 2022, then secured the assembly with the mayor’s workplace. Elie stated she carried out the logistical work and correspondence with town companies, whereas Desrosiers introduced in companions, like Pierre for advertising.
“It’s each ridiculous and audacious of him [Lamarre] to assert that after he spent almost a decade, if no more, in making an attempt to get a parade in Manhattan, Jensen completed it in mere months,” Elie wrote. “Not solely does Jensen have the experience, however he has the connections to get issues executed.”
“To be blunt, Haitian Powerhouse, led by Jensen Desrosiers, is the rationale there was a parade,” Elie stated.
Elie went on to accuse Lamarre and Mary of actions that The Haitian Instances couldn’t corroborate as of this writing. She additionally stated The Haitian Instances did not report on Lamarre and Mary as a lot as on the parade go well with’s defendants. For the report, The Haitian Instances reached out to the defendants or their attorneys previous to publishing earlier articles, however they selected to not remark.
“We stayed silent due to the lawsuit, however, as they are saying, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH [sic]. We’re going to pursue this to the fullest extent,” Elie stated.
Default judgment in opposition to Anba Tonel stays open query
Quickly after the June 2023 parade befell, receiving extensive acclaim, the dispute over funds started. Either side started accusing the opposite of conspiring to obtain the cash that Bichotte Hermelyn allegedly promised can be reimbursed to the organizers. Accusations flew over the cellphone, textual content messages, WhatsApp teams and different interactions, events from either side allege.
That summer time, in August 2023, Anba Tonel stopped paying its $20,850 month-to-month lease, in keeping with the go well with introduced in Kings Supreme Court docket in March 2024 by Gutman Weiss, P.C. The alleged failure to pay $170,569.46 in rent, at that time, was a breach of the 10-year lease efficient in September 2021. By June 2024, with no response from the defendant, the quantity in arrears and authorized charges had elevated the demand to $200,922.46, in keeping with courtroom information.
Neither Elie nor Desrosiers seem to have filed a solution with the courtroom and even acknowledged receipt of being served.
In September 2024, the owner’s legal professional requested the U.S. army if Elie was on lively responsibility since there was no reply from her. The army confirmed she was not deployed, and the legal professional then requested for the default judgment.
On Nov. 25, Choose Saul Stein granted the default judgment.
In response to what may occur subsequent with Anba Tonel, Elie deflected, pointing the finger once more at Pierre-Pierre.
“We perceive that our haters, together with Garry Pierre Pierre would like to see us shut down,” she wrote. “If you happen to all actually cared about small enterprise house owners, as a substitute of circulating private enterprise data, why don’t you as a substitute attempt to assist the companies by holding an occasion with them or buying their providers? Not right here although, we don’t need Garry’s enterprise.”
Within the parade case, the events have been attributable to meet in December, however that was postponed, in keeping with Elie and Lamarre. The courtroom information present March 13 as the subsequent scheduled look. Different dates could also be added because the plaintiff and defendants as the invention continues.