UES Power Couple Says Neighbor's Renovations Are Tormenting Them

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — An Upper East Side power couple is suing the dentist who owns the next-door townhouse, alleging that an abandoned renovation project has disrupted their lives and soiled their street.

The suit was filed in state court last week by Harry Kargman, an advertising executive who lives in a Lenox Hill townhouse with his wife, the writer Jill Kargman, and their three children. (The couple have shown off their luxurious home to multiple news outlets.)

The neighboring brownstone is controlled by Dr. Michael Mass, whose dental office occupies the lower two floors. In 2016, Mass embarked on a major renovation with the goal of adding two stories to the top of the brownstone to serve as his residence, the suit says.

In the ensuing five years, however, the project has gone nowhere — even as a green construction fence continues to surround the building. Recent city inspections found the renovation was "0% complete," with the site "closed and padlocked," leading inspectors to issue a stop-work order due to the lack of progress.

As it stands, the abandoned site is "attracting homeless people, garbage, rodents, dirt and debris," the suit alleges, adding that it "is more reminiscent of Detroit circa the 1980s than Manhattan’s Upper East Side today."

Before work was abandoned, the limited construction that did get done caused headaches of its own, the suit says. In 2016, the neighbors did foundation work that crossed over onto the Kargmans' property without their knowledge, the suit alleges — and even broke through a wall into their home.

Finally, in March 2019, both parties signed an agreement including a clause requiring Dr. Mass to pay a $1,500 fee for each week that the work went on — increasing over time to $5,000 per week if the renovations continued.

Since then, however, most of those weekly debts have gone unpaid — even after Mass's attorney admitted this past July that plans to add floors to the brownstone had been scrapped, the suit says.

The listed plaintiff is an LLC that controls Kargman's residence, in which he is listed as a member. Attorneys are asking a judge to award the LLC more than $225,000 in damages for breach of contract, as well as an order to finish construction. Mass's dental office did not immediately respond to a request for comment; nor did an attorney listed for Normanus Realty, the LLC that controls the brownstone.

Have an Upper East Side news tip? Contact reporter Nick Garber at nick.garber@patch.com.

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