Tenants slapped the LeFrak Organization and other parties associated with Gateway Plaza with a $100 million class action lawsuit for allegedly neglecting promised heating repairs.
Filed in Manhattan Supreme Court by some 5,000 residents of the six-building rental complex, the suit also names landlord Battery Park City Authority, Gateway Plaza Management Corporation and the Marina Tower Associates as defendants.
The plaintiffs claim the mixed-rate apartments at 389 South End Avenue were built poorly and allow cold air inside, forcing tenants to scrape ice off their windows to prevent water damage, and to spend big bucks on electric heating units to stay warm, the New York Daily News reported. New York State Assembly candidate Maureen Koetz, who was once a lawyer for the Environmental Protection Agency and a U.S. senator, is leading the charge, according to the paper.
LeFrak promised to make insulation repairs by the end of last year but didn’t follow through, as previously reported. [NYDN] — Angela Hunt