Dish’s bad behavior leaves property owners in the lurch

Cliff Steinberg’s family owns a busy street corner building in the SoHo district of Manhattan. The first floor is home to the Grand Street Social restaurant, with various commercial tenants on other levels of the five-story building. About four years ago, he was approached about using the building to house Dish’s 5G antennas. Negotiations ensued, and a year later, he signed a lease with Dish, with the understanding that he would be able to supervise the deployment of the equipment on the roof and wires throughout the building. Extensive renovations were made, and the arrangement worked until late 2025, when he received a letter saying Dish was no longer going to pay its rent, which was $4,000 a month. The problem: Steinberg’s now stuck with a bunch of 5G antennas and related equipment on his building—and Dish isn’t responding to any of his communications. How does he get rid of it?