You suin’ me? You better not be suin’ me!
A security company is preparing to defend itself against claims it was responsible for a smokey blaze at Robert De Niro’s Central Park West apartment earlier this year.
In papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Metro Security Communications says it needs copies of all the FDNY and NYPD 911 calls and incident reports to defend itself against a possible negligence action by the “Taxi Driver” and “Godfather II” star.
There’s no evidence the Tattaglias or any other crime families were involved — the FDNY has said it believed the fire was sparked by lint build-up in De Niro’s dryer.
“It is expected that a property damage action will be initiated by Mr. De Niro,” accusing Metro of “negligence,” the filing says.
The court papers don’t spell out how the company was allegedly negligent, but the first call to 911 appears to have come from a heroic mentor for De Niro’s son Elliot, and not Metro.
In his statement to fire investigators, the mentor, Philip Hunt, says he was on the fourth floor putting together a schedule for the younger De Niro when he heard someone yell, “Oh my God!” He was told by one of the housekeepers that a fire had broken out on the fifth floor.
He then ran up to the fifth floor, where “he saw a lot of smoke in the hallway and began to yell to make sure no one was in the apartment.” He “told the workers to go downstairs, at which time he dialed 911 at the stairway,” the report said.
Hunt then headed back to the fourth floor “to make sure everyone was out of that apartment,” and then went to the lobby to wait for firefighters.
The blaze caused some serious damage to the building, requiring the evacauation of the entire fifth floor, and some apartment on the fourth and sixth floors.
De Niro was not home at the time.
The filing seeks a court order requiring the city to turn over the fire information to them.