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It’s their party and they’ll die if they want to.
The tenants of a Tribeca apartment have turned their pad into a crowded, mask-free illicit nightclub complete with bouncers, booze for sale and a $100 cover charge, a new lawsuit alleges.
The owner of the building at 81 Hudson St. — where a 17-year-old boy drunkenly fell down a flight of stairs as cops broke up a 123-person party over the weekend — filed a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit Tuesday alleging that occupants Kurt David and Jean Elbaum-David hold weekly liquor-soaked bashes with DJs blasting tunes from their second- and third-floor abode.
The rowdy parties have driven neighbors nuts for weeks — prompting the recent raids by law enforcement.
The events normally have “hundreds of unmasked guests with a DJ playing music at obscenely loud levels, all while alcohol is illegally sold to the guests,” the suit charges.
“While restaurants and businesses everywhere are forced to close their doors in an effort to limit the spread of the virus, the defendants has essentially transferred the subject apartment into a nightclub, hosting illegal parties which are most definitely potential COVID-19 super spreaders,” the suit charges.
Not only is it a disruption for the neighborhood but it also poses a major public health risk as the parties “are directly attributing to the spread of COVID-19,” the court documents allege.
The pair, who signed a lease in January 2020, began holding the parties over the past few months and are expected to move out by the end of March, the court papers claim.
Authorities first raided the party palace on Feb. 26 and then again on Friday, where they found underage drinking, pot smoking and partygoers without masks, New York City Sheriff Joseph Fucito said at the time.
David, 30, of Roslyn, NY, was busted for allegedly selling booze to a minor and violating pandemic emergency restrictions against large gatherings. He was also civilly charged by the city for failure to protect health and safety.
A bartender, two DJs and a party employee were also arrested.
David and Elbaum-David have also been fined by the city for “the excessive garbage situation that these parties create,” with “liquor bottles and other trash routinely left in the street and sidewalk,” the court filing claims.
Meanwhile, residents of the building have sent messages to the landlord describing the gatherings, the suit says.
One particular email detailed festivities continuing until 7:30 a.m. and a fight between to guests who were “punching each other in the face while carrying knives,” the court papers claim.
The same email alleged that at the Feb. 19 party, “guests were throwing firecrackers off the terrace of the apartment into the street along with bottles and cups,” according to the court filing.
The manager of Puffy’s Tavern, which is located on the first floor of the building, told The Post the parties began in the summer with people lining up outside the building during the day after partying all night.
He said a big problem has been the “piles and piles of garbage” that were left on the sidewalk.
Another Puffy’s employee said she would regularly see cases of alcohol being delivered to the apartment on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
“My biggest concern is, number one, that they’re spreading COVID — a lot of young people having parties without masks,” the manager said. “And number two, that something is going to happen up there because they’re kind of doing whatever they want, like someone getting seriously hurt.”
“I think it’s pretty reckless,” the manager said. “I can’t believe this has been going on as long as it’s has.”
A woman who lives a few doors down told The Post, “There’s always a slew of people outside, tossing bottles from the roof and really loud music playing.”
Building owner Eisdorfer 60 LLC wants a judge to put an end to the parties and to allow the landlord and the Department of Buildings access into the building — as the owners claim to have been attempting to get into the building since Feb. 1.
The suit is also seeking over $10,000 in damages.
“The Landlord has been trying to stop the tenant(s) from holding these dangerous and illegal events for months,” said Melissa S. Levin, the lawyer for landlords. “We are hopeful that our recent filing with the Supreme Court will help our efforts to end the tenant’s disruptive behavior once and for all.”
Reached by The Post, David would say only that he put down a large deposit on the apartment and has diligently paid rent for months.
“Rent has been paid on time over the duration of the full-year lease and due to COVID-19, I filed the COVID-19 hardship declaration and the landlord holds $36,000 for two months security and one week free rent,” he said. He declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying he’d forward it to a lawyer.
Elbaum-David did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
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