A Yonkers commercial property owner claims that pyrotechnics from filming the TV comedy “Ghosts” next door resulted in a partial collapse of its building, but the insurer blames the destruction on tree roots and has refused to cover the losses.
The 148-158 Ludlow St. Corp., formed by Christina Samuel, is demanding $1.75 million from Travelers Casualty Insurance Co., in a complaint filed June 28 in Westchester Supreme Court.
Travelers demonstrated bad faith for blaming the collapse on a tree, the landlord argues, by denying coverage and making “an assertion that defies credulity, logic, common sense, and the most fundamental aspects of contract interpretation.”
The scene of destruction is 148 Ludlow St. in a Yonkers industrial district, around the corner from 251 Hawthorne Ave. where Bronx Bus Corp. parks buses.
“Ghost” is a CBS comedy whose characters, Samantha and Jay, convert an inherited country estate into a bed-and-breakfast. The place is falling apart and is inhabited by spirits who only Samantha can see and hear.
Bronx Bus Corp. permitted Ghost Productions Inc. to film a show in its Hawthorne Avenue building in October 2020, according to the complaint, that included detonations of explosives.
Days later, a wall at 148 Ludlow collapsed. The City of Yonkers deemed the scene hazardous and ordered the immediate demolition of the Ludlow structure.
The landlord says the concussions from the “Ghost” detonations had weakened the retaining wall and led to the collapse. And when Capital Industries Corp. used heavy equipment to demolish the 148 Ludlow building, a wall at the landlord’s adjacent building at 158 Ludlow was damaged.
Travelers rejected the landlord’s insurance claim. Its investigation determined that a Tree of Heaven — an invasive species that is named for its ability to grow quickly toward the sky — was about 21 feet from the retaining wall, and that Google Streetview images as far back as 2016 show a large crack in the wall.
Travelers’ experts concluded that pressure from tree roots displaced the wall. The insurer also noted that the insurance policy excludes coverage for some causes of building collapses and for inadequate maintenance.
Regular inspections and maintenance of the property would have revealed the displacement caused by the tree roots, Travelers determined, and the building could have been repaired before the collapse.
The landlord argues that Travelers “disregarded the factual reality of the mechanism of the collapse, instead relying upon pure and unadulterated conjecture and speculation as to deterioration which Travelers asserts would have been theoretically observable … prior to the collapse.”
Travelers did not immediately respond to an email asking for its response to the allegations.
The landlord is demanding $1.5 million for the loss of the structure at 148 Ludlow and $250,000 for the damage to the wall at 158 Ludlow from Travelers, Bronx Bus Corp. and Ghost Productions and $250,000 from Capital Industries.
The landlord is represented by Nassau attorney Todd D. Kremin.
