Butt out!
A Manhattan judge has snuffed out a condo board’s demand for a court order barring a Park Avenue South man from smoking in his own apartment.
The board of 260 Park Ave. South had blamed José Arozamena for “strong odors” that some residents complained about shortly after he rented an apartment in the luxury building in September 2010.
Arozamena denied he was the source of the stench, and in court filings contended that some of the complaints were made when he wasn’t even in town.
On one occasion when a building staffer came in, the worker reported there was no smell of smoke inside.
Arozamena blamed the smells on “defects in the building’s ventilation system.”
But the condo board still blamed Arozamena, contending the bothersome smells were a violation of the house rules.
Justice Manuel Mendez declined to sign a restraining order against Arozamena, saying there’s “some doubt” he is the source of the smoky aroma.
“Even if tenants are the source of the odors,” the judge said, the building “did not establish whether the odors are a result of unreasonable conduct on the part of the tenants.”