A singer-actress is demanding more than $10 million from a Larchmont landlord for allegedly refusing to clean up black mold that she says has sickened her for more than three years.
Abigail Rose Reedy claims that Cora Rust and her son, Anthony Rust, who manages the property, repeatedly neglected to repair leaky plumbing and remediate black mold, in a complaint filed May 11 in Westchester Supreme Court.
From the end of 2019 to now, the complaint states, “Reedy has been unable to perform and earn a living.”
Reedy, who now lives in a Hell’s Kitchen apartment building, describes herself as a classically trained soprano and musical theater performer who earns a living by singing.
In August 2019, her “life partner,” Michael Holtzman, leased a six bedroom, six bath house on Weaver Street, Larchmont, for $7,000 a month, according to court records.
Anthony Rust allegedly represented the house as fit for human habitation and free of hazardous conditions, the complaint states. But shortly after Reedy and Holtzman moved in they discovered a wet ceiling and leaky pipes that allegedly caused water to accumulate and enable black mold to grow.
She claims they notified Anthony Rust numerous times but he took no action to remedy the problems.
Reedy says she experienced shortness of breath, sore throats, colds, fevers, fatigue and other symptoms attributable to the mold. In January 2020, she underwent a balloon rhinoplasty procedure to alleviate breathing problems.
She is demanding $11,400 to cover the costs of the medical procedure, $250,000 for loss of earnings, $5 million overall and $5 million in punitive damages.
Her claims mirror allegations Holtzman made in a 2020 lawsuit that is pending.
Cora Rust sued Holtzman for nearly $250,000 for failure to pay rent for two months, abandoning the house in June 2020 after the ninth month of a 17-month lease, failure to pay for utilities, and for removing two Ming Chinese dynasty-era antique statues worth $10,000.
The couple moved out of the house in
Holtzman filed a counter-claim, arguing that Cora Rust effectively evicted him by not remediating the mold, and claiming that the statuary was ordinary concrete figures that were deteriorated when he left and could be purchased at any nursery for $50.
He said he served as a first responder at Ground Zero and has been certified as having a 9/11-related respiratory disease. He claims the mold exacerbated his condition, incapacitated him for three months and resulted in loss of income.
He demanded $6 million in compensation and punitive damages.
Cora Rust denied the allegations in a formal answer to Holtzman’s counter-claims.
Efforts to find contact information for the Rusts, to ask for their responses to Reedy’s accusations, were unsuccessful. Lamont Bailey, Cora Rust’s attorney in the Holtzman case, did not reply to an email asking for a statement on her behalf.
Reedy and Holtzman are represented by Suffolk County attorney Charles R. Cuneo.
