Broadwall Management Corp. v. Affiliated FM Insurance Company

District Court, S.D. New York·Decided August 1, 2022·No. 1:21-cv-10247·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

BROADWALL MANAGEMENT CORP. ef ai., Plaintiffs, 21 Civ. 10247 (PAE) “V- OPINION & ORDER

AFFILIATED FM INSURANCE CoO., Defendant.

PAUL A. ENGELMAYER, District Judge: Plaintiffs Broadwall Management Corp. (“Broadwall”) and its affiliated and subsidiary entities bring a claim of breach of contract against Affiliated FM Insurance Co. (“Affiliated”), challenging Affiliated’s denial of coverage under a property insurance policy (the “Policy”) for, inter alia, lost rental income during the COVID-19 pandemic. Affiliated now moves to dismiss under (1) Rule 12(b)(1), challenging the contractual standing of five plaintiffs to sue under the Policy, and (2} Rule 12(b)(6), arguing that plaintiffs’ losses are not covered because COVID-19 did not cause “physical loss or damage” to any insured property, and because no civil authority order restricted access to any covered premises on account of the “actual not suspected presence” there of COVID-19. For the reasons that follow, the Court denies Affiliated’s 12(b)(1) motion, grants its 12(6)(6) motion, and denies plaintiffs leave to replead.

I. Background A. Factual Background! 1. The Parties and Other Relevant Entities Broadwall is a New York corporation with its principal place of business in New York. AC 411. Itis the managing agent of the remaining plaintiffs,” namely: CP Associates, LLC, id 4 12,' Nassau Mall Plaza Associates LLC, id. § 13, 3601 Tumpike Associates LLC, id. § 14," 250 Park, LLC, id. 4 15,” 488 Madison Avenue Associates LLC, id. { 16,” 257 Park Avenue South Associates, LLC, id. § 17," 257 Park Avenue Associates, LLC, id. § 18," 257 Park Avenue South Fee Owner, LLC, id $19,” 370 Seventh Avenue Associates, LLC, id § 20, 370 Seventh Avenue Fee Owner, LLC, id. 4 21,* Seven Penn Associates, id 4] 22,%' 10 South LaSalle Owner, LLC, id 9 23,*' Madison LaSalle Partners LLC, id. | 24,*"# Fulton Retail, LLC, id Fulton Green Owner, LLC, id. 4 26,*” Nakash 645 North Michigan, LLC, id. § 27," 645 North Michigan LLC, id. 7 28°"! 730 Franklin Building Owner, LLC, id. § 29,*"" North

This factual account draws from the Amended Complaint, Dkt. 22 (“AC”), and two documents incorporated into the AC by reference: the Policy, Dkt. 27-2, and New York City’s Emergency Executive Order No. 100, dated March 16, 2020. See DiFolco v. MSNBC Cable LLC, 622 F.3d 104, 111 (2d Cir, 2010) (“In considering a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), a district court may consider the facts alleged in the complaint, documents attached to the complaint as exhibits, and documents incorporated by reference in the complaint.”), For the purpose of resolving the motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), the Court presumes all well-pled facts to be true and draws all reasonable inferences in favor of plaintiff. See Koch v, Christie’s Int’l PLC, 699 F.3d 141, 145 (2d Cir. 2012). For the purpose of resolving the motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(1), the Court presumes all well-pled facts to be true, but analyzes those facts under a preponderance of the evidence standard. See JS. ex rel. N.S. v. Attica Cent. Schs., 386 F.3d 107, 110 (2d Cir. 2004). Because subject matter jurisdiction here is based on diversity jurisdiction, the Court sets forth the citizenship of each plaintiff in detail in the endnotes to this decision. Complete diversity among the parties exists because Affiliated is a citizen of Rhode Island and no plaintiff (or member of a plaintiff) is.

Sheffield Associates, LLC, id. ¢ 30," 1151 Third Avenue Associates, LLC, id. 4 31,** RP Feil 57, LLC, id. 32. RP/Feil 57 Mezz, LLC, id. 4 33," and P200 Payroll LLC, id. § 34°" Defendant Affiliated FM Insurance Company is a Rhode Island corporation with its principal place of business in Rhode Island. Ja. 35. Because none of the plaintiffs or plaintiffs’ members is a Rhode Island citizen, there is complete diversity between the parties. All plaintiffs other than Broadwall are commercial landlords that lease their properties to businesses such as stores, gyms, and restaurants. /d. {{{ 86-87. Each holds interests in the insured properties at issue here (the “Affected Properties”), id. J 89, 92. The Affected Properties, and their respective interest holders, are as follows: Property Name Interest Helder (see Dkt. 27-2 at 26- 27) 10 South La Salle St., Chicago, IL 60603 10 South LaSalle Owner LLC; Madison LaSalle Partners LLC 645 North Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611 645 North Michigan LLC; Nakash 645 North Michigan LLC 362-378 7th Ave. a/k/a Penn Plaza, New York, NY | 370 Seventh Avenue Associates, LLC; 10001 370 Seventh Avenue Fee Owner, LLC; Seven Penn Associates 257-265 4th Ave. a/k/a Park Ave. South, New York, | 257 Park Avenue Associates; NY 10014 257 Park Avenue South Fee Owner, LLC Nassau Mall, 3601 Hempstead Turnpike, Levittown, | Nassau Mall Plaza Associates LLC; NY 11756 3601 Turnpike Associates Concourse Plaza, 200-238 East 16Ist St., Bronx, NY | CP Associates LLC 10451 200 West 57th St., New York, NY 10019 P200 Payroll LLC RP / Feil 57, LLC 488 Madison Ave. and 250 Park Ave., New York, 488 Madison Avenue Associates LLC NY 10022 813, 821, 825 West Fulton Market, Chicago, IL Fulton Green Owner, LLC 60607 730 North Franklin St., Chicago, TL 60654 730 Franklin Building Owner, LLC 1151 Third Ave., New York, NY 10065 1151 Third Avenue Associates, LLC

3 This chart lists only those interest holders which are also named plaintiffs in this action.

1. December 2019—March 2020: Early Spread of COVID-19 The AC begins by recounting the spread and contagious nature of the COVID-19 virus. In December 2019, the COVID-19 virus first spread in China, and from there around the world. AC 741. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 an international public health emergency. Jd. § 42. The virus is highly contagious, in part because it travels in droplets expelled in the course of human coughs, sneezes, or speech, and can infect

anyone who came into contact with those droplets either through aerial transmission or touching surfaces on which such droplets had landed, Id. J] 43-44, 52-53, 58-59, 62. The virus is, the AC pleads, a “communicable disease” in the ordinary meaning of those words. Jd. 154. Compounding the virus’s contagiousness are that (1) it could linger in the air for up to eight hours and survive on some surfaces for up to five days; (2) it was more resistant to cleaning than other respiratory viruses; (3) its incubation period lasted 14 days, during which infected individuals could unknowingly transmit the virus while showing no symptoms; (3) many infected individuals showed no symptoms at all; (4) there was little access to adequate testing at the time; and (5) many infected individuals failed to get tested. Id. f{] 44-45, 55-56, 59, 63, 66. The virus is more likely to be transmitted indoors than outdoors. Jd. [51. These virus-carrying droplets—or fomites-—-resting on surfaces present “a threat to human life and health.” Jd. 9/57, 70. In April 2020, three guests at a hotel in Manhattan’s Midtown neighborhood——~less than a mile from “numerous of Plaintiff's insured properties”’—died of COVID-19. fd. ¥ 44.

4 This property and this interest holder are not listed in the Policy. But because Affiliated does not challenge North Sheffield Associates’s contractual standing, the Court will treat these pled facts as true for the purposes of resolving the instant motion to dismiss.

Plaintiffs allege that COVID-19-carrying fomites caused economic damage to its insured properties by “physically altering the surface[s] of [their] propert[ies] into a potentially deadly Coronavirus transmission device,” id.

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Broadwall Management Corp. v. Affiliated FM Insurance Company, (S.D.N.Y. 2022).

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