Contractor involved in roof collapse sues Mall at Cross County for $1.1M
A New Jersey company that was working on a parking deck at the Mall at Cross County in Yonkers when it collapsed last year, is suing the landlord for more than $1.1 million.
Maarv Waterproofing Inc. of Clifton, New Jersey, sued AAC Cross County Mall LLC and its parent company, Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. of Manhattan on Oct. 15 in federal court in White Plains.
As a result of uncompensated work and materials furnished in repairing the parking garage, Maarv claims, the mall”™s value has been enhanced and the landlord “has been unjustly enriched.”
AAC Cross County Mall and Ashkenazy Acquisition had sued Maarv Waterproofing on May 17 in Westchester Supreme Court for allegedly failing to do the job in a safe and workmanlike manner.
Ashkenazy hired Maarv two years ago to repair and improve the parking garage. The original contract, according to Maarv”™s complaint, was for nearly $1.4 million and $490,000 was added for extra work.
On Jan. 11, 2017, Maarv was using a heavy Bobcat machine on the parking deck when it fell about 30 feet into a National Wholesale Liquidators store, injuring five people.
The store was condemned as unsafe.
National Wholesale Liquidators sued AAC Cross County Mall and Ashkenazy a year ago in Westchester Supreme Court, claiming that the landlord had ignored structural problems for years and that the rooftop work was being done without a permit. National demanded $5 million for lost revenue, profits and inventory.
AAC and Ashkenazy denied the allegations and filed a third-party complaint, within the National Wholesale Liquidators lawsuit, against Maarv Waterproofing.
Maarv had used a Bobcat that weighed more than the weight limit of the parking deck, the landlord claims, causing the roof to collapse and damage the store.
The contract, according to AAC and Ashkenazy, also required Maarv to indemnify and to defend the landlord for any damages arising from the work.
The case is pending.
Maarv claims in its lawsuit that AAC has paid $760,594 for the parking garage job but has refused to pay $1,121,606.
Maarv is represented by Alan Winkler of Peckar & Abramson PC in Manhattan. AAC and Ashkenazy are represented by Kevin J. Nash and Howard S. Bonfield of Goldberg Weprin Finkel Goldstein LLP in Manhattan.