Share this @internewscast.com
An influencer notorious for skipping out on bills at New York City’s most upscale eateries, with at least seven arrests to her name, is now facing eviction. Her landlord? None other than Eliot Spitzer, the former New York Governor.
According to documents reviewed by the Daily Mail, 34-year-old Pei ‘Lu’ Chung has ceased paying the $3,350 monthly rent for her studio apartment in Brooklyn since 2023. Her lease officially ended in August 2024.
Chung currently owes over $40,000 in unpaid rent, and a judge has ruled she must vacate the apartment by December 1.
Spitzer humorously remarked to the New York Post, “Here’s the thing that annoys me: I tried to get reservations at some of those restaurants and I couldn’t.”
The former governor stepped down in 2008 after it was disclosed that he had paid for high-end escorts multiple times, spending significant sums of money.
At the time, Spitzer stated, “I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people’s work.”
He then joined his family’s real estate business, Spitzer Enterprises, in 2015 – taking over the company following his father, developer Bernard Spitzer’s, passing in 2014.
Spitzer’s Williamsburg development – a trio of towers at 416 Kent Avenue with a total of 857 apartments overlooking the Brooklyn waterfront – then began leasing units in 2018, according to Curbed.
It was recently valued at more than $650 million.
Pei ‘Lu’ Chung, 34, stopped paying rent for her $3,350-a-month studio apartment in Brooklyn in 2023, and her lease expired in August 2024
She now owes more than $40,000 in back rent and has been ordered by a judge to vacate the premises by December 1
Chung moved into the apartment in July 2021, and has since filmed herself at the home in skimpy lingerie and high-priced clothing from Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Dior and Burberry.
But three neighbors who previously spoke with the Daily Mail described Chung as a disruptive and unnerving presence whose late-night screaming fits, door-pounding, alleged acts of vandalism and bizarre outbursts have allegedly drawn police to her door more times than they can count.
One neighbor, who asked only to be identified as Will, said that when Chung first arrived, she mostly kept to herself, but by winter 2022, her behavior seemed to have shifted and those who were once friendly with her began to distance themselves – saying ‘something was off.’
It was around that time that Chung allegedly told a now-former doormen that she had seen a sniper on the roof of a nearby building, and expressed her fears that as a Taiwanese citizen, the Chinese Communist Party was ‘coming after her.’
Will said she seemed more mellow by spring 2023. Aside from occasional flare-ups and noise complaints, life on the floor was relatively normal – until early summer 2024, when Chung contacted Will again via WhatsApp, asking about his rent and what he paid for the building’s facilities.
In screenshots shared with the Daily Mail, Chung claimed the building was trying to charge her double for gym access and pointed out what she believed were violations in the clauses of her tenancy agreement.
After a flurry of messages, she suggested ‘consulting a lawyer for potential legal action.’ Will replied that he wasn’t interested and wished her luck.
But it was then that Chung apparently stopped paying rent and Will said her behavior went off the rails.
She is being evicted by her landlord, former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer
Spitzer’s Williamsburg development – a trio of towers at 416 Kent Avenue with a total of 857 apartments overlooking the Brooklyn waterfront – began leasing units in 2018
In November 2024, she ranted in the resident WhatsApp group that front-desk staff weren’t wearing suit jackets, as she believed was customary – drawing rebuke from several residents, messages show. She was later removed from the group.
In the weeks that followed, Will said Chung then started playing music so loudly that his walls shook and furniture rattled.
‘It was intentional,’ he said. ‘She’d bang in all different areas – the bathroom, the main room. You could tell she’d pushed the speaker right up to my wall.’
Will claimed Chung’s outbursts often woke him in the middle of the night or in the early morning hours. He banged on the wall in response and repeatedly called 311, but police could do little. Officers would knock, she wouldn’t answer, and they’d eventually leave, he said.
On December 15, 2024, the NYPD returned for a welfare check after reports that she had been screaming in Mandarin inside her apartment and blasting music for hours. Video footage obtained by the Daily Mail shows several officers forcing open her door.
Will, who witnessed the incident, said, ‘She answered their questions correctly but kept saying everyone was against her, and that she’s right and everyone else is wrong.’
As their war between walls continued, Chung allegedly began leaving strange items outside of Will’s door, including a dirty face mask and used plastic gloves.
He says he lost count of how many times he or other residents called police, but officers would sometimes visit her floor multiple times per week – occasionally multiple times in a day.
One night, after several police visits, Will was in the bathroom when he heard a scribbling sound outside his door around midnight. When he opened it, he said, he found his name written in red lipstick.
‘I don’t know if she has a thing for me or something,’ he said, ‘but that’s an objectively weird thing to do to someone.’
Chung moved into the apartment in July 2021, and has since filmed herself at the home in skimpy lingerie and high-priced clothing from Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Dior and Burberry
One neighbor, who asked to be identified only as Will, told the Daily Mail that Chung has been tormenting him for months, playing music in the early hours and vandalizing his door
Another source told the Daily Mail that Chung had been reprimanded for attempting to enter another tenant’s apartment.
Will said he is aware of two incidents in which she allegedly walked into someone’s unit uninvited, once waking a male resident by entering his bedroom. Maggie said she had heard similar accounts.
In February, Will said he also photographed Chung tying one of the building’s luggage carts to her front door, seemingly so it could only be at her disposal.
Then in April, he, Chung’s other next-door neighbor Maggie and a third neighbor heard a thunderous crash from the hallway.
When they stepped outside, they found the smashed remains of a Roomba vacuum and a telephone. When Maggie asked what she was doing, Chung allegedly replied that she wasn’t satisfied with how the Roomba was working.
Another video Will filmed in June shows a loud, violent banging from behind Chung’s door. The following month, Chung placed a speaker on a tripod outside her apartment and played a blaring, AI-generated monologue about Taiwanese foreign policy.
Three neighbors who previously spoke with the Daily Mail described Chung as a disruptive and unnerving presence
Officers from the NYPD are seen gathered outside of Chung’s door on December 15, 2024, conducting a welfare check
Chung allegedly began leaving strange items outside of Will’s door, including dirty facemasks and used plastic gloves
Police have been called to the apartment building at least three times because of Chung, and building manager Bob Jenny has said that ousting the influencer is ‘high on our priority list.’
‘We are very aware of the situation and have a very active legal case against this resident,’ Jenny wrote, according to court documents.
‘NYPD has been here multiple times… with little long-term improvement.’
Jenny made the comment after a neighbor claimed to have ‘regularly heard loud arguments between residents on this floor, as well as sounds played at excessive volumes during various hours of the day and night,’ the Post reports.
‘The sounds frequently vibrate through the doors and walls,’ the neighbor said as he complained about garbage being left in the hallway.
Meanwhile, Chung rails against a ‘black family’ on her floor on Instagram, accusing them of closing their door ‘too loudly.’
Other clips show her grinning as deafening music plays from a speaker, or peering into the hallway, making noises.
Exclusive images obtained by the Mail show Chung seated alone inside Hole in the Wall, twirling pasta on her fork on Wednesday
Late last month, Chung was arrested for allegedly refusing to pay a bill at the famed steakhouse Peter Luger’s
But her manicured façade fell apart this week when the 34-year-old was arrested for the seventh time in less than a month, accused yet again of racking up a hefty tab at a restaurant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which she refused to pay.
Staff at 12 Chairs said she walked out on Monday after refusing to settle her tab, and on Wednesday, the manager at Hole in the Wall asked her to leave mid-meal after recognizing her from recent coverage, staff at both restaurants told the Daily Mail.
Exclusive images obtained by the Mail show Chung seated alone inside Hole in the Wall, twirling pasta and sipping a cappuccino before her abrupt ejection.
Then, on Thursday night, the Daily Mail encountered Chung two doors down at the swanky Maison Premiere, playing with her camera by the bar. When approached for comment, she silently rose from her seat and moved to the back of the restaurant.
She attempted to order a drink, but management refused to serve her and asked her to leave. She declined, and police were called. Chung then quietly slipped out moments before officers arrived.
In all, Chung (seen Wednesday) has been arrested seven times for the same misdemeanor charge: theft of services
Chung’s alleged dine-and-dash spree began in the Williamsburg area in late October at the ritzy restaurant Francie.
According to the Post, she ordered foie gras, carpaccio, bucatini, lamb and a chocolate mousse – totaling $188 – before attempting to barter with the restaurant for the meal.
‘She wanted to trade pictures and a blog post for the meal,’ owner John Winterman told the outlet. ‘I told her that would have needed to be agreed upon beforehand, and it wasn’t, so she needed to pay the check.’
When all her cards declined, Winterman said she claimed she was waiting for money from her family. She returned on November 7 and was arrested after allegedly refusing to pay an $83 tab, records show.
Days earlier, she racked up a $97 tab at Lavender Lake and left without paying, according to police.
She also visited Peter Luger’s Steak House on October 27, where she allegedly ran up a $146 bill and refused to pay. A manager alleged to the Post that Chung offered a sexual favor instead of payment.
Chung was also arrested twice last weekend after similar incidents at Sea Thai and Misi, police records show. She was released under supervision.
In all, Chung has been arrested and charged seven times for the same misdemeanor: theft of services, and has pleaded not guilty in at least one of the cases.
She is now due back in court in December to face her theft of services charges – just days after her scheduled eviction.