BY COLIN MIXSON
Gateway Plaza Tenants Association president Glenn Plaskin was cleared of allegations that he threatened tenants of the Battery Park City residential complex on behalf of Gateway management by a state Supreme Court judge on Jan. 10.
The allegations became part of a long-running class-action lawsuit against the buildings’ owner and management when a plaintiff complained that Plaskin had tried to pressure her to withdraw from the suit — a charge he vehemently denied.
The judge’s dismissal of a cease and desist motion, along with other legal sanctions filed against Plaskin, came after the plaintiff’s attorneys failed to prove that the tenant advocate acted as an agent of the landlord when he approached resident Ninfa Segarra, who is the sole named plaintiff in lawsuit, according to an attorney for Segarra.
“I think it’s pretty clear he was engaging in that activity, but what was not clear enough for the judge was he was doing it at the behest of management,” said Jeff Norton, a legal eagle with the firm Newman Ferrara.
Segarra, a former deputy mayor under Rudy Giuliani and now chairwoman of Community Board 1’s Battery Park City Committee, testified that Plaskin approached her shortly after she joined the lawsuit against Gateway in August, and said that her involvement in the litigation could put her lease in jeopardy, according to an affidavit filed on Sept. 6.
“Mr. Plaskin told me he found out I joined the Gateway class action … then asked me if I understood the ‘dangers’ involved in the case,” Segarra testified.
In August, Segarra joined the lawsuit alleging Marina Towers Associates and Gateway Plaza Management forced Gateway tenants to endure freezing temperatures and pay outrageous heating bills as a result of “defective” windows and heaters at the six-building, 1,712-unit complex.
The class action was first filed in 2014, but the suit risked fizzling out before it started after the initial plaintiffs, David Spencer and Barbara Stoeble, withdrew their names from the suit.
The legal action picked up steam again after Segarra joined the suit along with Gateway tenant Pauline Wolf, who has since withdrawn her name from litigation, leaving Segarra as the sole remaining plaintiff.
Segarra alleged Plaskin approached her then and insinuated Gateway management would refuse to renew her lease if she didn’t withdraw as well, she testified.
“[Plaskin] stated something to the effect of: ‘Don’t you want to get a lease renewal? Participating in a lawsuit can cause you problems,’” Segarra said in her affidavit.
Though Plaskin did acknowledge speaking with Segarra about the lawsuit, the tenant leader insisted in his own affidavit that she had grossly misrepresented their conversation.
Plaskin and GPTA have officially taken a neutral stance on the lawsuit, although he admitted to calling one of the Plaintiff’s lawyers last year to express his concern that the litigation could complicate GPTA’s ongoing negotiations to preserve rent stabilization at the complex.
Likewise, he testified that when he approached Segarra he told her that the lawsuit was putting Gateway’s rent stabilization in jeopardy, but that he never said anything about a threat to her individual lease.
“Gateway has commenced a window replacement project,” said a spokesperson for the management. “The project is expected to be complete by fall 2017, pending any unforeseen delays.”
