Doug E. Fresh is suing his Harlem neighbor over a seemingly forgotten project building that he claims is “infested with rodents.”
Doug E. Fresh, born Douglas Davis, has filed a $1 million lawsuit, complaining the now-halted project building down the street from his Manhattan suite is causing problems with the adjacent brownstone at 251 W. 131st St., which he used to own. Davis is currently living at 259 W. 131st St. but is suing on behalf of 251’s late owner, Arlene Davis, according to Page Six. Davis is over Arlene’s estate, but there is no information on what the rapper’s relationship with Davis is.
In the document, Davis explains that the under-construction building shares a common wall with 251. And while work on 249 began in March 2016, it was stopped by the city Department of Buildings a year later — causing major problems to 251, his Manhattan Supreme, the lawsuit alleges. The 249 building was left without a rear wall, which weakened the whole structure, causing a crack to form along the top-to-bottom wall that both properties share. The crack has now “allowed water to infiltrate the wall system and seep into the soil and foundation of the adjoining premises, compromise the structural integrity of the adjoining premises, and cause damage,” the court papers say.
Also, “rodents infested and nested” in debris and dirt piles left behind in construction, which has caused a “constant rodent infestation” in 251, the court documents claim. Until the problems with the building are fixed, Davis wants all construction to stop. He is suing the architects of the project, the building’s owners and the construction companies who were involved.
One of the defendants, architect Anthony Cucich, told the New York Post “I was involved only on the design of the job. The problem is the contractor didn’t follow the plan, Cucich said on Monday. “He started taking down the building without shoring it up. “Then [the DOB] stopped the job, and since then, it’s been a struggle going on and off,” Cucich said, adding the group is in the approval process with the DOB and close to beginning work again.
