Metro

Model sues landlord after home security breach

A stunning Russian model who strutted the catwalk for Betsey Johnson during Fashion Week is suing her landlord, saying she lives in a perpetual state of high anxiety because the building owner refuses to tighten security at her Greenwich Village apartment, which was broken into twice in one month.

Elena Kurnosova, 21, and her fiancé, Joseph Foley, 28, are suing Lana Coren of TSA Realty, the owner of their building at 231 Thompson St., over the repeated security breaches from last May.

The couple claim they’ve lost $500,000-worth of possessions, including Kurnosova’s passport and visa, necklaces, watches, laptops, iPads and even her modeling portfolio.

“There were no signs of forced entry,” Kurnosova said in a statement to The Post. “There have been no traces of the culprits, they left the scene very clean, fingerprint free.”

The 5-foot-11 blond Moscow native has also modeled for Vogue, Giorgio Armani, Pucci and Valentino. Foley runs a real-estate and investment brokerage.

Elena Kurnosova attends the Mercedes-Benz Star Lounge during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Spring 2014 at Lincoln Center.
Elena Kurnosova attends the Mercedes-Benz Star Lounge during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Spring 2014 at Lincoln Center.

They first asked Coren to fix a broken lock and a busted intercom system and to install cameras at the six-story walk-up on April 8, according to court papers. The first burglary occurred less than a month later.

The landlord ignored their pleas, according to the Manhattan civil suit, and then the second break-in happened soon after, on May 13.

Still Coren did nothing to secure the building, the suit says.

Since the burglaries they “have had trouble sleeping” and “have been experiencing extreme anxiety” for which medication has been prescribed, according to the legal documents.

Coren said she had not seen the lawsuit.

“There are no security problems,” she told The Post.

One of the couple’s neighbors, Kat Porvis, 28, said that she had never been the victim of a break-in herself, but that she is concerned about the repeated thefts within the building.

“For her apartment to be broken into, it’s a big deal,” Porvis said. “I feel like I want to add an extra lock on my door at night.”

Kurnosova — who was an aspiring ballerina as a young girl and who started modeling at age 13 — has been living in the Greenwich Village apartment with Foley for the past year.

Another resident, Cliff Crumpton, 30, considers himself “one of the lucky ones” as he hasn’t become a target of crime.

“I think it would be a great idea to install cameras here. The landlord doesn’t do as much as he should to make sure all the tenants are safe,” Crumpton said.

“I’ve been here a few years and never got my apartment broken into, but I’m one of the lucky ones. It can happen to anybody. I feel like this isn’t that dangerous of an area. You just get a couple of crazies who make their way in here. There’s nothing you can do, really. It makes me feel a little helpless.”