Two Gansevoort hotels file Sandy suits

As the first anniversary of Hurricane Sandy approaches, businesses affected by the storm are rushing to file lawsuits before the one-year window closes, after which it will become more complex to sue. And two of the latest storm related lawsuits have come from the Gansevoort Hotel in the Meatpacking District and the Gansevoort Park Avenue.

Both of the luxury hotel properties filed complaints this week in New York State Supreme Court against Consolidated Edison and Great Northern Insurance Company, respectively. Like the Trump SoHo New York Hotel before them, the Gansevoorts are arguing that power outages during the storm were due to negligence and that losing electricity cost the businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to Crain’s.

Specifically, the hotels are accusing Con Edison of not preemptively shutting down the East 14th Street substation, which exploded during the storm, resulting in sustained power outage. Ganesvoort Park Avenue claims that the insurer is wrong in its claim that the power outage was the result of water damage and not the explosion, which would require an additional payout. The Meatpacking District hotel is seeking $453,142 from Con Edison and the Park Avenue hotel wants $1.2 million from Great Northern. [Crain’s] —Christopher Cameron