Home unimprovement: Yonkers couple demands $1.8M from contractor
A Yonkers couple who nearly tripled the size of their home is demanding $1.8 million from a contractor for allegedly botching the job.
Alessandro and Tracey Demarinis accused ANM Realty Group Corp. and Anthony Martirano of negligence and breach of contract in a lawsuit filed Dec. 18 in Westchester Supreme Court.
“Portions of the addition have been totally unusable,” the complaint states, and the couple was “compelled to expend thousands of dollars for remedial work.”
Martirano did not respond to an email requesting his side of the story.
The Demarinises live in a two-story house on a 0.76-acre lot on Wyndcliff Road in the Beech Hill section of Yonkers. They bought the property for $650,000 in 2004, according to county records.
They hired ANM Realty Group in 2019 to build a two-story addition, enlarging the house from 5,600 square feet to 14,385 square feet, including a basement basketball court.
ANM, based in northeast Yonkers, bid $700,000 for the project.
Alessandro Demarinis is no stranger to contracting. He is CEO of Demar Plumbing Corp., on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and is associated with Demar Mechanical Inc. and D&D Sheet Metal Inc. at the same address.
The scope of the project is detailed in a 15-page agreement and 36 pages of specifications and drawings.
The Demarinises claim that the job was not completed in accordance with the contract.
ANM and Martirano “caused damage to the home because of their poor workmanship,” the lawsuit states, “and failure to take proper precautions during the remodeling.”
The complaint states that substandard or incorrect materials were used, for example, and stucco and stone finishes were installed incorrectly. Several of the alleged deficiencies concern waterproofing and drainage, such as failure to install vapor barriers.
The couple claims they are owed $1,811,437 for overpaying ANM and Martirano, hiring contractors to fix defects, and paying vendors ANM failed to pay.
They also are demanding an accounting of all expenses the contractor incurred, including construction materials, tools and equipment, payroll and subcontractors.
Purchase attorney Gregory J. Tembeck represents the Demarinises.