This co-op says its going to pot, thanks to one of its residents.
The board of The Fontaine, on the Upper East Side, is suing the longtime occupant of Unit 8B, claiming the man’s guests spark up so much marijuana in his apartment that the acrid smoke wafts into neighboring units.
In the lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court yesterday, a property manager for the co-op at 353 E. 72nd St. blamed all the purple haze in the building on Richard Kempter, 73, who has lived in the apartment for 12 years.
“Problem is that the stepson and a group of his friends use the apartment as a place to smoke marijuana when Richard is away,” the manager said in the filing.
There’s so much pot smoke coming from 8B, the suit alleges, that one neighbor opened the “dishwasher on a clean load of dishes and the smell was overwhelming,” court documents claim.
“The smell of VERY strong marijuana is wafting in through the vent in the bathroom and the stench goes right to my bedroom. This is so offensive, you have no idea,” one resident complained in the suit.
Another griped, “It is 10:45 p.m. and my apartment smells like a party was going on while I was out for the evening . . . The stench of musty pot that is lingering in my closet is unbearable.”
An October 2010 letter to Kempter cited in the suit also accuses one of his guests, identified as Chrissy, of “lewd conduct” on the building’s rooftop after dark during the previous summer.
In response to the suit, Kempter, who teaches psychology at Long Island University and John Jay College, told The Post he doesn’t have a son and he himself never inhales.
He did, however, cop to his guests’ rooftop misdeeds, but insisted he didn’t approve.
“She was probably having sex on the roof, but that occurred a couple of years ago,” Kempter said about Chrissy.
“Plenty of other residents smoke pot and cigarettes in the hallways,” Kempter alleged.
He also said the board didn’t notify him of the alleged incidents until a year after they occurred. He said he hasn’t invited the offending guests back.
Kempter charged that his guests were targeted because of their race.
“My visitors are black,” Kempter said. “I think it’s a race issue. It’s an all-white building.”
The building’s attorney, Laurence Pittinsky, declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.
Additional reporting by Kevin Fasick