A former US Air Force honcho is the lead plaintiff in a new $100 million class action lawsuit against a major Manhattan developer alleging that the mogul’s Battery Park City complex is “the poster child of uninhabitability.”
Retired Air Force Assistant Secretary Maureen Koetz says her apartment at 355 South End Ave. is so cold during the winter that she is forced to “regularly scrape ice from the interior … to avoid the melting frost from causing further water damage,” according to the Manhattan civil suit.
Koetz, who lives in the six-building Gateway Plaza complex with 5,000 other residents suffering similar conditions, is suing the LeFrak Organization headed by billionaire scion Richard LeFrak.
“The units are poorly constructed, inadequately insulated, and riddled with defects in the heating and ventilating systems,” according to court papers.
“The metal framed windows transform the building into a conductor for cold in the frigid weather.”
The suit says the units, which start at $2,350 for a studio, are not “fit for human habitation.”
In court papers, Koetz claims LeFrak is profiting off the tenants’ misery as the landlord purchases electricity from Con Ed and then resells it to residents who have to use extra, energy-guzzling space heaters to stay warm.
“Members of the class end up paying considerably more per kilowatt-hour than comparable buildings elsewhere in New York City,” the suit says.
Koetz, a Republican, is running a long-shot campaign for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s seat.
The landlord has ignored the residents’ complaints, according to court papers.
A LeFrak spokesman said, “All equipment at the property is capable of meeting all code standards for climate comfort. We will defend this lawsuit vigorously as it is baseless and without merit.”