The Sherry-Netherland was sued by a unit owner who claims construction has shrouded her Central Park-facing terrace in scaffolding for the past six years.
Lucia Isabel Alonso Espinosa said in a lawsuit filed Friday that the storied Fifth Avenue co-op has essentially commandeered her private 24th-floor terrace since 2020 as part of a never-ending facade restoration project.
Alonso Espinosa, who says her family has owned its unit in the Sherry-Netherland since 1986, claims that scaffolding has blocked her stunning views and that workers have turned her terrace into a break area. On one occasion, a worker allegedly peered into the bathroom while a family member was showering, according to the suit.
She’s seeking a retroactive and prospective abatement of both maintenance fees, which she says are around $375,000 a year, and a $300,000 special assessment. Alonso Espinosa’s suit comes as sale prices in the building, whose famous residents have included Howard Hughes, Diana Ross, David Bowie and Francis Ford Coppola, have dropped in part due to surging maintenance charges. According to property records, former Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Officer Michael Eisner purchased a Sherry-Netherland apartment on the floor above Alonso Espinosa’s for $10 million last month.
Michael Ullman, the Sherry-Netherland’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, said in a telephone call Friday that he hadn’t seen the lawsuit or been served, therefore could not comment. He didn’t respond to phone calls on Monday. A lawyer for Alonso Espinosa also didn’t respond to requests for comment.
According to the suit, Alonso Espinosa was told by the building that the facade renovation was initially expected to take 12-to-18 months and cost around $6 million. But she says the building’s mismanagement has caused the project to drag on and balloon in cost to nearly $35 million.
Alonso Espinosa claims the building granted rent reductions to some commercial tenants affected by the renovation but refused to offer Espinosa similar relief. She says she was told that reducing her maintenance charges would require other co-op owners to shoulder the cost.
The dispute arrives as apartments in the building have faced steep asking-price cuts. A full-floor unit once owned by exiled Chinese tycoon Miles Guo, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for fraud in June, was recently listed for $12 million, nearly $56 million less than he paid for it in 2015. That unit was severely damaged by a fire that broke out around the time of his arrest and would require extensive renovations.
But Richard Steinberg, a Compass broker marketing a 17th-floor apartment for $14.9 million, less than half the original $30 million asking price, said the sky-high maintenance of $102,000 a month is a major reason for the steep discounts. “This is over a million dollars a year,” he said. “They have amazing services, but it is disproportionate to the price of the apartment.”
Alonso Espinosa claims the indefinite nature of the construction and ever-present scaffolding has hurt the value of her unit.
New York has been trying to rid its streets of seemingly permanent scaffolding, introducing new designs and rules aimed at reducing the proliferation of sidewalk sheds while protecting pedestrians. The structures have become such a fixture of city life that officials are seeking ways to speed their removal.
The case is Alonso Espinosa v. The Sherry-Netherland Inc., New York State Supreme Court, New York County.