The heirs of real estate titan Sheldon Solow were furious that a longtime critic had usurped the late tycoon’s name to create a web based parody of their art gallery that’s off-limits – but an arbitrator said the family had cornered themselves by not registering the name as a trademark.
Latest York art gadget Ethan Arnheim has launched solofoundation.org in 2017 to ridicule the proven fact that the street-level gallery at 9 West 57th St. Showcasing masterpieces by Matisse, Miro, Giacometti, a part of Solow’s half-billion-dollar collection, Solow is closed to the general public.
The parody website Arnheim lists the gallery’s opening hours on all seven days of the week, reminiscent of “unavailable”, “closed”, “not open” and “absolutely not”.
The headline on the Arnheim website reads “Solow Art and Architecture Foundation”, although after Solow’s death the name of the gallery was modified to the Soloviev Foundation.
A drained Stefan Soloviev, who heads Solow’s real estate empire after his father died in 2020 on the age of 92, filed a case against Arnheim with the World International Property Organization (WIPO), a United Nations affiliate agency that monitors using domains.
![Sheldon Salow](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/NYPICHPDPICT000007892914.jpg?w=683)
But late last month, the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center ruled that the family had “failed to supply evidence that Mr. Solow’s name or the name of the Solow Foundation was utilized in a trademarked manner.”
Moreover, WIPO said Arnheim never attempted to monetize its parody site, which it said was intended to attract attention to the gallery’s tax-exempt status.
“Using the accusation of cybersquatting, the Solow heirs tried to remove my website,” Arnheim told The Post.
The gallery’s closed doors have long irritated passers-by on West 57th Street and art experts, including Arnheim, who says its tax-exempt status should require it to be accessible to all.
The most important painters and sculptors could be seen only through the glow-filled windows overlooking the pavement.
Former Manhattan borough president Gale Brewer once tweeted that the salon’s tax-exempt status was “outrageous.”
Asked if the Solovievs would take the case to a U.S. court, Hayden Soloviev, Stefan Soloviev’s son, said: “My father has more necessary things on his mind than some bored man and his fake website, and I’m sure he’ll care for that when his responsibilities related to the management of an eight-region conglomerate will allow him to accomplish that.
![Stefan Soloviev](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/NYPICHPDPICT000007892942.jpg?w=1024)
“But yes, the corporate will take further motion on this.”
Hayden Soloviev told The Post last yr that the corporate plans to open the gallery to the general public later this yr, after the redevelopment is accomplished. He also denied published reports that the tower was on the market.