Mr. Rosen’s Neighborhood

Instead, Rosen is gracing the pages of the New York Times in a story about a true First World Problem: mega-mansion construction in the Los Angeles megabucks enclave of Bel-Air. Rosen doesn’t like it. And he let the developer of one such 90,000-square-foot, $152 million, hilltop project under construction near his home know about it via the pages of the Gray Lady.

“We’re talking 200 construction trucks a day,” Rosen told the New York Times. “Then multiply that by all the other projects. More than a million cubic yards of this hillside have been taken out. What happens when the next earthquake comes? How nuts is this?” It’s nuts enough that even CAA founder Michael Ovitz has gotten into the act.

Ovitz, who lives below a property once owned by Jon Peters and purchased by a Saudi Arabian prince who also happens to be deputy foreign minister of that country, started a campaign against plans to build an 85,000-square-foot estate overlooking his backyard.

Ovitz wasn’t quoted for the story, but the Times noted that “Mr. Ovitz calling out a neighbor for overbuilding is a little like Lady Gaga accusing someone of overdressing.” The paper also points out that Ovitz lives in a “trophy house, a contemporary villa cum art museum” that measures 28,000 square feet.

As for Rosen, he isn’t formally organizing against the construction of what would be the city’s largest private residence. But in response to its approval, he helped to form the Bel-Air Homeowners Alliance, which is litigating against construction of other “gigamansions” in the neighborhood, according to the Times.