A 23-year-old Brooklyn man was found unconscious Wednesday morning in a bathtub at 45-year-old hotelier Ian Reisner’s penthouse apartment on Central Park South in New York City.
Sean Verdi, who also went by Sean Gregory, was rushed from 230 Central Park South to Saint Luke’s Hospital after Reisner called 911 at about 8:20 a.m., the New York Daily News reports. He died at 9:03 a.m.
Though a medical examiner will conclude an official cause of death today, all signs point to a drug overdose. One friend who was with Verdi told cops that Verdi had taken cocaine and molly, but no drugs were found at the apartment.
After staying up all night partying at the penthouse, Verdi became physically distressed. Reisner and one of Verdi’s friends carried him to the bathtub to attempt to revive him. It is not clear if Reisner called 911 before or after moving Verdi into the tub.
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Reisner, a former managing director with Bank of America, is best known for creating The Out NYC in Midtown Manhattan, a hotel and nightclub that bills itself as “New York’s first gay, straight-friendly urban resort.”
He met Verdi at Bar-Tini Ultra Lounge, a gay bar on 10th Ave. not far from The Out. Verdi was working at Bar-Tini as a manager at the bar.
Investigators do not believe criminality was involved.
Verdi’s stepfather Steven Colandrea told the Daily News, “I thought it was a stupid accident. So now I’m getting upset finding out about Ian Reisner and how old he was.”
Here’s a link to a video of Reisner’s appearance on the Bravo TV show Million Dollar Listing, in which he hosts a party in the same apartment.
Reisner was arrested in May of last year after he side-swiped a parked car in East Hampton, L.I., and fled the scene. He was charged with “driving while ability impaired.”
AtticusBennett
sadly, this is not a new story. wealthy successful men with money woo boys with cash, drugs and a glamourous life. it rarely ends well. a young man is dead, and this should not be happening.
kids – avoid the chemicals. please. for your own good.
Cam
The “Gay Hotel” he created made the ridiculous move of putting out the presentation they made to investors as a Youtube ad by mistake.
Basically they were saying that gays as a group will pay above the reasonable rate for a hotel if we tell them the Hotel is “gay”.
Always nice to see one of us who is so concerned with the community that he sells to the investor that they can fleece us.
loujourtajour
When will these fucking Peter Pans grow the fuck up! It certainly was a choice to do drugs on the young man’s part, but that still doesn’t negate the fact that if an older adult could have fucking intervened instead of thinking about his dick getting wet this young guy could have lived to see the rest of his life.
It’s normal to go out and have a drink to unwind with friends, but it’s not normal or cute to have an all night bender.
blackberry finn
I dunno, 23 years old sounds pretty adult to me. Does his 45-year old lover have to be his nanny? Whether or not they had sex is incidental to the fact of the drug-taking. Would it be less a pity if he’d died from a drug overdose while watching Brady Bunch re-runs? Unless Reisner forced the other MAN to take drugs, which I suppose we can’t rule out, he can’t be responsible for the OD. If he’d been 17, that’s a different story.
hyhybt
Make up your minds. If “the body of” was found, he was dead *when he was found.* If he was found unconscious and died later, it was a living person who was found, not a body.
corey
Step Dad says: “I’m getting upset finding out about Ian Reisner and how old he was.” As if there are not many relationships straight or gay, where one person is much older than the other. This is most obvious in straight couples where the female is half the age of the man.
stranded
@blackberry finn: I agree, people are making a lot of assumptions based on Reisner’s age. Because he’s older and wealthy he must be the bad guy in this situation. Verdi was 23, a manager and based on the photo a college graduate. If he ODed then it was his own fault. Sad, but true and unless more sinister facts come in regarding Reisner’s involvement, i don’t think he deserves blame for Verdi’s death.
Silas Wegg
@AtticusBennett: He resorted to drugs because his parents were Republican.
Jonathan26
I’d read that someone OD’d at the hotel during the holidays last year and friends who’ve stayed there while visiting from Europe have said without exception that sleeping is impossible on the weekends with the club noise not to mention the bathhouse atmospherics that take over the hotel’s common areas. In fact, a French friend had sex with some masseuse at the hotel….during the massage he was paying for. Reisner’s original hotel and nightclub partners left after bad clashes with him. Trouble seems to follow Reisner and I’ve little doubt that whatever drugs that young man did came from Reisner and the night of partying which ended in his apartment with a dead kid was orchestrated from the very beginning by Reisner himself at Bar-Tini in HK.
I'm Black, and HIV-Positive.
How long do you think it took Sean’s stepfather to figure out that they must have had a threesome too? No Sean’s stepfather isn’t gonna be happy about the over-20-year age difference here.
I'm Black, and HIV-Positive.
Nice job censoring my comments Queerty.
I'm Black, and HIV-Positive.
@Cam: You’re my new favorite person Cam. I love that obnoxious, gay whistle-blower fire about you. It’s sexy. You were specifically making love to me when you wrote that piece weren’t you?
I'm Black, and HIV-Positive.
Queerty only knows how to censor comments.
barkomatic
@loujourtajour: The younger mans friend was also there, so it’s not like Verdi was alone with Reisner. I don’t think its so much an age issue as it is a wealth issue. You’ve got a younger guy with dreams hooking up with an extremely wealthy man–whose influence could dramatically help. I wonder if the younger guy went beyond his limits to impress this guy.
At some point, you’ve got to assume adult responsibilities but the truth is that men often remain very impressionable through their twenties. Sad, I hope this case isn’t handled any differently than it would have been if a wealthy person wasn’t involved, but I think I already know the answer.
vive
“”Investigators do not believe criminality was involved.”
Oh, I must have missed the memo that molly and coke were now legal in New York.
Cam
@I’m Black, and HIV-Positive.:
Obnoxious?! I’m going to take that as a compliment. 😉
newyorkprivatecollector
As a gay man of 54 years who has seen EVERYTHING this great city
has to offer, I ask, is this ANOTHER story of an older, richer predator
plying a young man with too many party favors for too long, ending
up too high himself to notice his guests consumption but not too high
to flush all the favors down the toilet, and hiding behind the “recklessness”
of his guest while denying his own responsibility in the man’s death to
evade criminal or civil responsibility. No not possible, right?
Ogre Magi
He probably did more living in those 23-years than most people do in 73
Wooly
“All and all, its just another brick in the wall.”
Wooly
@newyorkprivatecollector: Oh yes dear, because casual sex and doing drugs is everybody’s life goals.
J.T.
In all due respect to the stepfather and with less respect to Peter Reisner’s detractors, has anyone noted that Bar-Tini is a hustler bar with strippers and back room lap dances? Of its kind it is better managed and has a better vibe than most, but it is what it is, a place where the young work to exploit the old. I suspect the young man is not the innocent the Puritans here make him out to be nor is Peter Reisner quite the predator some would like him to be. We all create narratives that suit our moralities. But there’s an ignored reality here. Addicts often die. No one forces drugs into their systems. A native New Yorker is hardly likely to be beguiled by the bright lights of 10th Avenue. The disease of addiction is rampant in the gay community. This is sad but accept it for what it is — not as another opportunity for a bout of gay ageism.
And self-righteous moralizing.
Kenover
I remember this Reisner guy from MDLNY. He came off as a complete asshole and sleazy douchebag.
Stache99
@J.T.: I think you’re right. It’s usually a two way street. I doubt the guy was forced to use. It’s more like use and be used. You’ll use my youth and beauty and I’ll use you for financial opportunities. Age old situation.
However, it’s going to come down to who gave who the drugs. Reisner of coarse would’ve already flushed them down the toilet. Of coarse if someone comes forward with a different story things will get complicated for him. I can see a blackmail situation in that case.
seaguy
There is probably more to this story. I have done cocaine and molly and it’s not a combo that usually kills unless you do way too much and overdose or you have health problems like a bad heart. Verdi was a bar manager so I doubt he was naive. Sad that he died though.
seaguy
@vive: Since when did legality stop people from using drugs? Get Real.
vive
@seaguy: reread my comment please. I was responding to the quote that ”Investigators do not believe criminality was involved.”
Jonathan26
@Kenover: Bingo!
nephilim71
@corey: The step dad probably just figures that at Reiners age, he might be more responsible.
nephilim71
@nephilim71: *Reisner
itsjoeybee
I’m reading in between the lines of this story and I am going to bet that this was an orgy that involved Crystal Meth and something went wrong.
fashionisto7
Saddened beyond words to hear that this has happened to this really nice young guy. I didn’t know him too well but he served me quite a few times and I’ve seen him out; awesome human being, gorgeous inside and out. Obvi we all need more details to develop but in any case my prayers are with his loved ones and the hotelier; he and the situation sound real suspect but I’m sure he’s devastated. I hate when young, driven awesome guys go so soon especially under these kinds of circumstances but such is life. 🙁 So sad
Kangol
@Cam: Reisner came off as a sleazy, rac!st creep on that episode of Million Dollar Listing,, so while I didn’t expect that some young man would turn up dead in his apartment, I’m not surprised. Yecch!
onthemark
”Investigators do not believe criminality was involved.”
@vive: “Oh, I must have missed the memo that molly and coke were now legal in New York.”
@seaguy: “Since when did legality stop people from using drugs? Get Real.”
Don’t be silly! Since everyone involved was white, there was no criminality involved! – says the NYPD.
sportyguy1983
I guess we have gotten to a point where a 23 year old isn’t responsible and adult enough to make decisions (even stupid decisions like doing drugs) for himself and we must blame someone else. What should be taken from this is that when you are an irresponsible person and make dumb decisions, there are possible life ending consequences. Unless the 45 year old put a gun to this 23 year old’s head, the only person responsible for this death is that dumb 23 year old.
vive
@sportyguy1983, I disagree. If the older guy was supplying the drugs (which I bet you was the case here) he should certainly be liable.
I'm Black, and HIV-Positive.
@Cam: I was complimenting. Lol! I’m glad you didn’t take that the wrong way.