Co-op president dodges suit over Kips Bay apartment

Plaintiff has no standing to sue, appeals court decides

333 East 23rd Street and Mark Andermanis
333 East 23rd Street and Mark Andermanis

The president of an affordable housing co-op board won the legal tug-of-war over an apartment in Kips Bay.

A resident of The East Midtown Plaza at 333 East 23rd Street filed a lawsuit last month accusing co-op board president Mark Andermanis of illegally securing a four-bedroom unit in a Mitchell Lama building, typically reserved for families with six or more members.

The plaintiff, Alicia Echevarria, alleged that she was next in line for the apartment, and accused Andermanis of jumping the line, the New York Law Journal reported.

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The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development subsequently reversed a waiver given to Andermanis allowing his family of five to occupy the space, according to the Law Journal.

But a state appeals court decided that Echevarria doesn’t have the standing to sue, because her family doesn’t qualify either, meaning Andermanis ultimately gets to stay, according to the family’s representation, Manhattan-based attorney Adam Bailey. [New York Law Journal]Angela Hunt