Tenants of the Ocean Luxury Residences in Battery Park City still endure hellish conditions of diesel generator fumes, free falling elevators and dirty water months after Hurricane Sandy flooded the building, according to a new, class-action lawsuit.
“The generators are breaking down and you can have unscheduled blackouts from 30 minutes to a few hours,” said a member of the tenant association, who declined to be named for fear of reprisal from management. “People are taking showers when all of the sudden the water turns brown.”
Owners of 1 West St., where one-bedrooms go for $3,500 a month, allegedly ignored the impending hurricane by failing “to place sandbags or restrictive barriers in front of the doors and windows,” states the suit, filed today in Manhattan Supreme Court.
“They didn’t prepare for the storm in any way, shape, or form,” tenant Bradley Singer, 26, told the Post. “There’s video of water gushing in to the basement through — literally — an open door.”
He added that problems persist with the elevators with residents experiencing another free fall malfunction earlier this week. “They ignored our complaints about faulty elevators for at least five days, until I personally spoke to the [city’s] Deputy Commissioner of Buildings, who sent inspectors to issue a violation,” Singer said.
The Zone A residence, with its 500 apartments and 15 floors of commercial space, was uninhabitable for 33 days after the storm, which wrecked its electrical system, the suit states.
It was deemed “unsafe” after the city determined that an oil spill created a “toxic environment.” After giving mixed signals to residents about when they could return and charging November rent, management allegedly forced residents to sign a document promising not to break their leases — or get out in 24 hours, the suit states.
The residents are seeking unspecified damages.
The Moinian Group, the real estate conglomerate that owns the building, did not return multiple messages left seeking comment on the suit.
Fellow Sandy victims in lower Manhattan have dragged landlords to court over similar conditions at 2 Gold Street and 201 Pearl Street.