An owner of a Time Warner Center condominium, who is leasing the unit to upstate philanthropist and businessman Sam Nappi, has filed a lawsuit against the wealthy Russian family that owns the apartment above, seeking to halt their allegedly noisy construction work, the New York Daily News reported.
The upstairs duplex unit belongs to a trust for the family of billionaire Vitaly Malkin, a former Russian legislator. The 74th-floor resident has been renovating for the last two years, according to Nassi, who said he was fed up with “unrelenting” sounds and smells from the work.
“It’s inconceivable that renovating a 3,500-square-foot apartment can last two years, and that the remaining work continues to be so noisy,” the suit claimed. “The Empire State Building was built from the ground up in 13 months.”
The renovation has already been the subject of litigation.
An entity linked to Malkin’s son sued a Manhattan contractor for alleged overbilling earlier this year, The Real Deal reported. The suit alleged that Katselnik & Katselnik Group tried to extort a multimillion-dollar contract when the entity signed another contractor to do subsequent work on the apartment.
Joshua Bernstein, a lawyer for Malkin, told the Daily News that a judge refused to sign an order to stop the renovation work, noting that his client had “complied with all building rules and performed work only during business hours.” [NYDN] —Zachary Kussin