Manhattan, NY – Holy-War Over Sukkos At Trump Place Condos

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    Manhattan, NY – A high-rise holy war has broken out at the Trump Place Condominiums, where one man’s straw Sukkot has left a concerned couple soaking wet and steaming mad.

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    Thomas Tagliani and Leslie Lucas say they’ve repeatedly complained about the Sukkot that Zev Geller, who lives two floors down, builds each year on his third-floor terrace.

    The 20-foot-long religious structure is a fire hazard, and Geller allegedly regularly barbecues next to it, creating a dangerous “tinderbox condition,” according to the couple’s Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.

    Tagliani and Lucas are suing Geller, the condo owner and the condo board for $500,000. They want Geller booted from the building as well.

    “I’m Jewish. I built a Sukkot. I didn’t think much of it because it’s temporary,” Geller said. “I’m literally just a Jewish person living in New York City, but I guess my neighbor doesn’t like that.”

    The case has nothing to do with religion, said lawyer William Perniciaro, who represents Tagliani and Lucas.
    “It’s about fire, period,” said Perniciaro.

    Geller claims he researched the law and found that Sukkots don’t fall under the fire code.

    “I guess they take it personally that I’ve done anything on the terrace of my own apartment,” he said.


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    31 Comments
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    Balaboos
    Balaboos
    12 years ago

    A BBQ on a terrace next to a sukkah? I can see why they’d be concerned about that…I don’t know Mr. Geller, but he sounds like a typical wiseguy. Why not just apologize and stop the BBQ’s.

    Frankly, no one really cares if you build a sukkah on your terrace.

    12 years ago

    The fact is that bbq’g is ILLEGAL to do on terraces. HE should Not BBQ. However, this couple if nothing else are a greedy pair of characters.

    TimewillTell
    TimewillTell
    12 years ago

    Tagliani if u like it or not Donald Trump has a Jewish daughter (Ivanka) and she also made a Sukkah last year so its in style. get into the system before leiters sukka will be out of Stock.

    12 years ago

    So barbequing on a terrace is OK? How about stringing up lights for the holidays…no potential fire hazard there? These anti-semites’ lawyer is full of it. Get over it people…WE ARE HERE.

    ALLAN
    ALLAN
    12 years ago

    Several components to this story.. Does the buildings contract with the cono owners prohibit barbecuing on the terrace. Another issue is the use and or storeage of flammable materials. If propane is used it could be a major issue. If Mr. Geller is confident that he is within his rights but the fire issue remains, let FDNY come in and make the decision on the issue of fire safety and law.

    Mark Levin
    Mark Levin
    12 years ago

    Sounds to me like the nosey neighbor is more like a pain in the neck sonay yisroel than anything else. He lives 2 floors up & the sukka bothers him? He wants 500k???? For what???? HE is the one who should get booted from the condo!

    MIESQ
    MIESQ
    12 years ago

    Similar to #5 On one level does building a Succah or BBQ violate the condo’s by -laws or not. Most likely they do not then the next question it is possible there is a problem with how Mr. Geller’s Succah is designed and all that is needed is a little retooling. It is sad that people are so quick to seek counsel and clog the courts with suits which at their essence may be only the product of folks not being able to talk to each other and finding reasonable resolution.

    FirshtRadzivil
    FirshtRadzivil
    12 years ago

    What don’t you understand? They are in need of money

    ShalomCon
    ShalomCon
    12 years ago

    Many lovely neighbors are really simmering anti-Semites and this type of situation brings out their true stripes. Why give them ammunition, even for one week a year? There are many municipal restrictions regarding grilling on balconies, rooftops, decks and terraces. There are also regulations about what you can put out there. And what isn’t covered by the fire department can be barred by the declarations and bylaws of condo or co-op associations.

    Before next Sukkot, Mr. Geller should study up on exactly what’s allowed and proceed accordingly. There are less combustible choices for schach than straw, aren’t there? And face it, barbequing right next to a sukkah is a bad whether you’re on a NYC balcony or in a suburban back yard.

    SherryTheNoahide
    SherryTheNoahide
    12 years ago

    The couple complaining sound like a greedy pair! They want all that money… for what?!?!

    Being concerned about the potential fire hazard is one thing… but suing the guy over it is another! How greedy can a person get?!

    The answer is to simply ASK the person to make sure his\her BBQ isn’t too close to the Sukkah! Or maybe ask them to just NOT BBQ all together! (But ask politely!)

    If the person refuses to move the BBQ further away from the Sukkah, or refuses to heed your concerns… then take it up w\the condo management! If they don’t do anything about it either…

    Well… then either YOU move out, or maybe they will…

    But hiring a lawyer & making THIS much fuss over it, just shows how greedy you are! Get over yourself! The man is BBQ’ing ONCE A YEAR!!! And, for a religious holiday!

    Whatever happened to religious tolerance in this country!

    It seems to me, that if a person isn’t a fundamentalist x-tian… they don’t HAVE as much liberty to celebrate their religion as everyone else!

    MosheM
    MosheM
    12 years ago

    Doesn’t sound like this person actually barbecues.

    mewhoze
    mewhoze
    12 years ago

    no one should have a bbq on a balcony.
    i see nothing wrong with the succah tho

    AKIVAF
    AKIVAF
    12 years ago

    There is a well known ma’aseh from Washington Heights and also an English kids’ books with this exact scenario.

    The landlord screams at the Yid to take the Sukkah down and takes him to court. He goes to court and the Jewish judge says to him with a wink- I am siding with the landlord in this case and you have eight days to take it down.

    somejew
    somejew
    12 years ago

    Is this really worth a half-million dollar lawsuit? Pure greed.

    JackC
    JackC
    12 years ago

    NYC law on barbecues: The 20 Gallon tanks are illegal. Natural gas and electric are OK. Charcoal is OK when 10-foot clearance between the grill and the
    building (or, I’m sure, Succah). You must also have immediate access to a fire extinguisher or a water supply, such as a garden hose.

    12 years ago

    I hope I get selected as part of the jury selection.
    Anyway since when does smoking not cause a fire hazardous? No clause on the contract. No smoking allowed.no Christmas lights allowed .no romantic candles allowed. No.pets are allowed they can tip over a candle.get a life u greedy neighbor. Hope the jury reaches the verdict that both of you are a neighbor in hell hazardous .waste of tax payers money and get u kicked out.u anyway can’t afford the rent. That’s why u need to.find something to sue.

    12 years ago

    I seriously doubt that this succah is a fire hazard. The neighbors might see the schach (which is unlikely straw) from 2 floors above and not understand that the structure itself is not made of straw. The Trump building has huge terraces and they function as backyards, they’re not purely decorative. If his use of his terrace was out of compliance with the building code the board and landlord would have him remove the succah and might even evict him. Since they are both named on the lawsuit as well, they clearly are comfortable backing this use of space. The Trump buildings have had fires, most recently less than two weeks ago and not from a succah, the fires don’t generally spread past the apartment that is aflame. An actor who resides in these buildings owned a fish tank that malfunctioned and caused a fire, did they ban fish tanks? Living in any apartment building requires a certain amount of patience and good communication skills. Suing the board, means you’ve sued every neighbor who pay dues. Entitling yourself to $500,000 + attorney fees because you don’t like a once a year, temporary building structure, that everyone else manages to ignore is quite pathetic and unethical.

    shredready
    shredready
    12 years ago

    the guy cannot stop barbecuing for eighth days or how long his sukkoh is up.
    Both are OK but barbecuing next to a sukkoh i can see why people are concerned especially if he is using straw since that can light up real easy

    Fox613
    Fox613
    12 years ago

    Here’s the part that doesn’t make sense: the couple is apparently suing both Geller and the condo board.

    Normally, an owner would bring a complaint directly to the condo board, an investigation would be conducted, and if necessary, the condo board would file a lawsuit.

    The fact that the couple is suing both Geller and condo board suggests that perhaps the condo board investigated; didn’t find any evidence of wrongdoing; and now this couple is on the warpath. Certainly if Geller were doing something unsafe, the condo board would have little reason to condone it.

    12 years ago

    every lawyer-wannabe has a legal opinion here, and not one of you has any idea what the circumstances actually are.

    If the people want to pay a lawyer to sue, let them go ahead. It will cost thousands of dollars to even begin, if not tens of thousands, and if the case has no merit it will get thrown out quickly, and they will have lost the money they spent. Where does greed come into this?

    And for the smart-alecks who deal with ambulance-chasers, no lawyer will take a contingency case that he doesn’t think he can win. 35 or 40% of zero is still zero.

    Where you people get the idea that the people suing are greedy people is beyond me. what is there to be greedy about? They cannot possibly show $500,000 in dmages to themselves, so they cannot collect that much even if the court finds the Jews acted wrongly. the neighbors may be rich and dstupid, but they are not “greedy”, as the morons on this site seem to think, because there is no greed to factor in here.

    savtaeema
    savtaeema
    12 years ago

    I happen to know Zev Geller and here is what happenned:there are 2 seperate issues. every year this jerk gives Zev grief over a sukkah, but he is allowed to have one.the bbq is a totally seperate issue. Zev does not grill on sukkot. he is not an idiot. Zevs “balcony” is really considered a roof because its on top of the garage. He thought he could have a grill because grills are allowed on roofs.while grilling a few weeks ago (not on Sukkot), this guy yelled down and started swearing at him. he called security and they came to the apt. Zev put out the grill willingly and the man came down to his apt yelling and cursing. he then took Zevs mezuzah on the front door and threw it to the ground (breaking it). thank G-d security was there to witness this “bheima”. Zev pressed charges and now this awful person is suing him. total antisemite- end of story-btw- supposedly this guy has a record of suing anybody and everybody!!!