A couple who lived in the fire-gutted building where Ed Norton was filming his movie Motherless Brooklyn have filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the filmmakers Class 5 Productions, claiming that they were not warned when the fire broke out last week.
FDNY Lt. Michael Davidson died while battling the fire that broke out late on March 22. His funeral was today at Manhattans St. Patrick Cathedral.
Erica and George Cruz say they lost everything in the fire that began in the basement, where they say the production “maintained certain equipment, including highly flammable equipment.” The suit — which also names the buildings owner, Vincent Sollazzo, as a defendant — seeks $2 million in real and punitive damages from Class 5 and more from Sollazzo.
According to the suit filed Tuesday in New York Supreme Court (read it here), “When representatives of Class 5, Inc. became aware of the fire, they did not warn the tenants in the building; in fact, they misled the tenants into believing there had been a fire that had been extinguished. As a result of the fire, the plaintiffs apartment was completely destroyed.”
Deadline has reached out to Nortons reps but has not yet heard back.
Attorney David Jaroslawicz of Jaroslawicz & Jarros LLC in Manhattan is representing the Cruzes in the lawsuit.
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