Lusker v. Ohrenstein

995 F. Supp. 388, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2052, 1998 WL 88593
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedFebruary 24, 1998
DocketNo. 94 Civ. 6794(JES)
StatusPublished

This text of 995 F. Supp. 388 (Lusker v. Ohrenstein) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lusker v. Ohrenstein, 995 F. Supp. 388, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2052, 1998 WL 88593 (S.D.N.Y. 1998).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

SPRIZZO, District Judge.

Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985, 18 U.S.C. § 1961, et seq., and New York State common law, plaintiffs Ron Lusker and Marilyn Lusker (“plaintiffs”), initially appearing pro se, filed the instant action against defendants Manfred Ohrenstein and Margaret Reed (the “State defendants”); defendants New York City Community Board # 2, New York City Loft Board, New York City Department of Buildings, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York City Department of City Planning, and the City of New York (the “Municipal defendants”); and Marcella Zelmanoff, Vincent P. Hanley, David B. Saxe, Robert M. Morgenthau, and Mary Jo White (together “defendants”) alleging that defendants conspired, beginning in 1979, to deprive them of two properties they owned at 43 Crosby Street and 85 Mercer Street in the SoHo area of New York City. Defendants move for judgment on the pleadings pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(c) or, in the alternative, for summary judgment pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. For the reasons that follow, defendants’ motions for summary judgment are granted.

BACKGROUND2

Plaintiffs are artists engaged in the making of fine art paintings and sculpture. See Am.Compl. ¶ 7. When the art market is soft, plaintiffs also earn a living by architectural design and building construction and renovation. Id.

I. 4-3 Crosby Street

In 1979, plaintiffs acquired a 5-story derelict loft building at 43 Crosby Street. Thereafter, plaintiffs filed plans with the Department of Buildings to convert the property to a different commercial use, with storage in the cellar, a restaurant on the first floor, and joint living and working spaces on the remaining floors. See Am.Compl. ¶ 14; Affidavit of David Monachino (“Monachino Aff.”) Sworn to June 31,1995, Exh. C. The Department of Buildings approved the plans, a work permit was authorized, construction began, and units on the upper floors were rented to various tenants. See Am.Compl. ¶ 15; Monaehino Aff., Exh. C.

Later that year, plaintiffs allege that a series of spurious complaints and malicious [391]*391rumors about them began to circulate in the SoHo community. See Am.Compl. ¶ 15; Plaintiffs’ Affidavit (“Pis.’ Aff.”) Sworn to November 13, 1995, ¶21. . Plaintiffs allege that defendants Lee, the District Manager of Community Board #2; Ohrenstein, a New York State Senator; and Reed, Ohrenstein’s community liaison, orchestrated the spreading of these complaints and malicious rumors. Id. According to plaintiffs, these defendants circulated a derogatory article suggesting that Ron Lusker had a prior felony conviction and would turn his planned restaurant into a Mafia-controlled disco with adverse consequences for the neighborhood. See Am.Compl. ¶ 15.

Moreover, plaintiffs allege that Lee sent the news article both to Sakona, the Superintendent of the Buildings Department, and to the City Planning Commission, and that Ohrenstein’s' office and Lee pressured Sakona to rescind plaintiffs’ building permit. Id. ¶ 16. Plaintiffs further state that an agent from the Planning Commission came to their restaurant and told them that Ohrenstein did not want plaintiffs to build the restaurant because Ohrenstein’s friends and relatives who lived in the adjoining building objected to the restaurant, and that defendants would delay plaintiffs’ work until the law could be redrafted to prevent it. Id.

On or about September 19, 1979, plaintiffs’ work permit was revoked and a stop-work order was issued by Sakona after an on-site inspection revealed that a large bar had been constructed on the first floor of 43 Crosby Street and connected to the plumbing, an alteration not included in the plans filed with the Department of Buildings. See Am. Compl. ¶ 17; Monachino Aff., Exh. C. Plaintiffs contend that this stop-work order was spurious and that, in order to prolong the delay, Sakona guaranteed plaintiffs that he would personally approve their application if they changed their plans to a different use group. See Am.Compl. ¶ 17. Plaintiffs allege that Sakona knew that his suggestion would require the review of Community Board # 2 and that such action would result in further delays and certain failure. See Am.Compl. ¶ 18.3

Plaintiffs acted on Sakona’s suggestion and had their architect redraw the plans. See Am.Compl. ¶ 18. However, after the new plans were presented, plaintiffs claim that Sakona told them that in order to have a restaurant in the building, plaintiffs would have to remove the cooking stoves and disconnect the bathtubs in the tenants’ lofts because they were not permitted for artists’ studios. Id. He further stated that once the restaurant was approved, the cooking stoves could be replaced. Id. Sakona purportedly issued plaintiffs a permit to remove the stoves, which they did, causing a rent strike that plaintiffs allege was instigated by Ohrenstein. See Am.Compl. ¶¶ 19, 20, 32; Monachino Aff.Exh. C.4

On November 17, 1980, plaintiffs filed suit in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking to enjoin defendants from alleged discriminatory practices relating to their 43 Crosby Street property and to compel defendants to issue a Certificate of Occupancy. See Am. Compl. ¶ 22; Monachino Aff., Exh. C.5 After [392]*392the parties consented to consolidate a hearing held on the preliminary injunction with a trial on the merits, Judge Sweet issued an Opinion and Order on March 26, 1981, dismissing the action. Judge Sweet held that the court should abstain from exercising jurisdiction, and that, in any event, plaintiffs had not demonstrated that the admitted community bias manifested itself in the administrative process, that they had been selectively treated among those similarly situated, or that defendants had acted with a bad faith intent to punish plaintiffs for the exercise of constitutional rights. Judge Sweet further found that neither defendants’ revocation of plaintiffs’ building permit without an evidentiary hearing nor defendants’ overall treatment of plaintiffs amounted to a deprivation of property without due process of law. See Monachino Aff., Exh. C.

On or about September 16 or 17, 1994, plaintiffs appeared before the Community Board’s review committee on liquor applications in connection with an application for their 43 Crosby Street property. See Am. Compl. ¶ 34; Pis.’ Aff. ¶20. Plaintiffs allege that Reed and Lee sat next to the chairman and coached her to recite in front of 150 people assembled for the hearing a list of character assaults, including Ron Lusker’s thirty-year-old conviction, which they knew had been fully pardoned. Id.

II. 85 Mercer Street

Plaintiffs allege a comparable tale regarding property they own at 85 Mercer Street.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
995 F. Supp. 388, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2052, 1998 WL 88593, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lusker-v-ohrenstein-nysd-1998.