Brooklyn Kitchens News
Dear neighbors:
Several folks in Park Slope and surrounding neighborhoods have dealt with Brian Ackerman at Brooklyn Kitchens (formerly known as Garfield Kitchens) for their kitchen cabinets, bathrooms, and similar items. While through the years (as evidenced by many local blogs, mailing lists, etc.), he has been a nightmare to deal with, lately, with the downturn in the economy, it appears he is acting in a fraudulent manner.
In the past it appears he has used deposits received from new customers to satisfy the orders for prior customers. There’s a phrase for that--it’s called a Ponzi scheme. And as we know, when the money stops coming in, the scheme collapses. With the recent downturn in the economy, the money stopped coming in.
A number of local residents have given Brooklyn Kitchens large sums of money, up into the high five figures, and he has failed to deliver product. Some of those customers are attorneys. Several of these customers have obtained judgments against him in court. Some new lawsuits have been filed against him as recently as this week.
I had a close call with Brooklyn Kitchens myself. I ordered everything I needed for a gut rehab of our South Slope townhome, at the end of 2007, and just barely got it all. The last item, glass shower doors, took six months to be delivered.
I started a website to alert my neighbors to my experiences. It can be found at whybrooklynkitchens.com . It has been instrumental in bring a number of aggrieved customers together. Don’t miss the email section:
http://whybrooklynkitchens.com/emails.html
Today I attended a meeting in the office of a Manhattan law firm with the attorneys of a number of defrauded clients. The attorneys will be meeting with the Attorney General in the next couple of weeks. The objective will be to press criminal charges against Mr. Ackerman, not just civil charges.
It appears Brooklyn Kitchens may be out of business. Reports indicate the store has been closed for a week.
Your neighbors are asking for your help in building a case against him. If you have had any bad experiences, particularly bad experiences that resulted in a financial loss, we are interested in hearing from you, and if desired, add you to the list of plaintiffs to which any settlement could be distributed.
Please email me, denton@speakeasy.net with comments or experiences.
14 Comments
By KAZ on February 4, 2010 4:52 PM
By denton on February 4, 2010 5:23 PM
Sure Kaz, if someone takes the time and the trouble to post their experiences, like I did. Meanwhile, he has a nice showroom in a nice neighborhood and he seems like a nice guy, so people get fooled.
By BrooklynCouch on February 4, 2010 5:35 PM
Need a lawyer? BrooklynCouch@aol.com
By newsouthsloper on February 4, 2010 8:58 PM
I went to this place when i was getting some bathroom cabinets and fixtures about 2 years ago. I wanted to support a local store too, but i remember being a little creeped out by the guy and going elsewhere. Sorry to hear about all of your problems - go get him, sounds like he deserves it!
By alita_nyc on February 4, 2010 10:57 PM
I was also at the meeting Denton mentioned in his post. To answer the response re: searching on the web, I did. At the time (more than 2 years ago) there was nothing posted about him at all. I wanted to support a local business. Thankfully I only purchased my cabinets through him, and when he started to pitch knock-offs and other inferior goods, I walked away. He delivered my cabinets, 3 months late. Cabinet sizes were wrong. Parts were missing. I finally hired someone to closely fabricate missing pieces.
At the meeting there were several individuals who were taken advantage of very badly. People who are living without kitchens or bathrooms. Who wanted to support a local business. And were drawn in by Brian and his big personality.
I firmly believe that Brian is a sociopath whose lies have gotten the best of him. Bottomline: he needs to be stopped. I disagree with Denton that there will be any financial settlement made. I think the best we will see is Brian not doing business in this neighborhood ever again. Personally I would like nothing more then to see the money he owes me returned (or better the missing parts delivered), but I am doubtful that will happen.
So please: spread the word. Do not do business with this man. And understand that no one who is joining forces wanted this to happen or sought it. I sat in a room today with doctors, lawyers, nurses who were shocked and embarrassed at the mess they had gotten themselves into. I, like Denton, is grateful that I am not out the high five figures that some of these people are owed.
I urge you to spread the word, and please email Denton to be put in contact with the bigger group. The end-game is not to destroy Brian Ackerman, but to show our strength as a community against those whose aim is to hurt us.
Thank you.
By traditionalmod on February 5, 2010 11:47 AM
It took me only 5 minutes with this guy when I was cabinet shopping 3 years ago to recognize he was a liar and a scuzz. Probably because of the business I work in I have had to refine that sense about people, but I am SO glad I turned and walked out the door.
By slopefarm on February 5, 2010 11:56 AM
t-mod, it is because of Brian as well as the jerks that sold us our house that we finally adopted a no bs rule. We set our internal bs detectors on the most sensitive level whenever dealing with RE, contractors or vendors, and walk away at the first sign of bs. Too late to of much use for us, but I highly recommend it. Sounds like you live by that as well. We did not end up out of pocket, but there were several months along the way in dealing with him that I was ready to kill.
By Butterfly on February 5, 2010 12:54 PM
call Help Me Howard on the pix news!!!!
*rob*
By alita_nyc on February 5, 2010 2:26 PM
Agreed @slopefarm. Now I DEFINITELY know better!
By Union Street on February 5, 2010 2:36 PM
I bought a few smaller items from Brian back in the Garfield Kitchens days when we were renovating in 2002/3. He was a total and complete nightmare to deal with. I could never quite tell if it were more due to disorganization or dishonesty on his part. I recall that it took him many months to deliver a simple toilet to us. He misled us on the delivery date multiple times. Then he screwed around on the pricing. I vowed never to go back there and did not. We are not at all surprised by this news.
By alita_nyc on February 6, 2010 9:15 AM
thanks @unionstreet. Odd, some people seemed to have had decent experiences with small items. He owes me a few minor pieces and still can't deliver them. When I heard that people were out 30, 40, 50K each I was floored.
If anyone you know was affect by Brian, even if you got all your pieces, please contact Audrey Roth or Denton above.
By alita_nyc on February 8, 2010 2:02 PM
A group of community members who experienced losses because of their business dealing with Brian Ackerman of Brooklyn Kitchens and Bath are banning together.
If you were affected, please contact us immediately. Criminal actions are being planned. There are some of us who were taken for $30, 40, and even $50k with no products delivered. Don't be ashamed!
For more information, please contact me at akinyc@gmail.com
Please pass this message on.
Thank you.
By slopefarm on February 8, 2010 4:07 PM
And for more, check out the following reviews:
http://brooklyn.citysearch.com/review/37268933?reviewId=50657911
Reading these is like re-living a nightmare.
By alita_nyc on March 15, 2010 10:12 PM
Just a quick update: our numbers are now close to twenty and growing every week. If you were affected, please join our google group --- http://groups.google.com/group/bkb_ackerman
I know there are many, many more of you out there!
Don't be ashamed!
Post a comment
Please be patient while your comment is published. It may take a moment.
With all due respect, do not people investigate who they do business with? A simple search on the web would have alerted them to all these issues. I just do not understand.