New York, July 16, 2007 – While celebrity couple Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo partied with residents and developers at the grand opening of the Atelier, a Manhattan condominium building, labor union demonstrators made quite a scene outside. Members of Local 32 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), yelled and chanted, protesting the lack of union representation for the condo’s service staff. Unrelated union supporters who happened to drive by hopped out of their cars to loudly add their voices, and the police finally broke up the protest.

The new tower’s far west 42nd Street neighbors include the Chinese Consulate, where supporters of controversial group Falun Gong protest on a daily basis, a stable where the NYPD houses its horses, and the Lincoln Tunnel.

One thing is sure to enhance the value of apartments across from the Atelier: Lachey and Minnillo, who were infamously photographed romping in the nude on a balcony at a Mexican resort, have reportedly taken a unit in the building.