Noted interior designer Steven Gambrel, who worked on the Bulova Watchcase Factory condominiums in Sag Harbor, was hit with a lawsuit for allegedly destroying a tree in his own backyard as part of a Greenwich Village townhouse project at 68 Morton Street.
Gambrel’s neighbor Allan Gordon filed the $50,000 suit in New York State Supreme Court. Gordon, who owns the rental building at 434 Hudson Street, rents the courtyard out to Gambrel. The lease deal called for Gambrel not to do any construction work in the courtyard without Gordon’s approval, the suit said. Gambrel was accused of not seeking approval to build a concrete slab staircase and refusing to halt construction.
“The health and ultimate life span of the tree was significantly compromised and jeopardized,” Gordon said in the lawsuit, which was cited by the New York Daily News.
Gambrel, whose clients have included actor Kiefer Sutherland and other celebrities, did not comment to the newspaper. [NYDN] — Mark Maurer