740 Park Ave.’s ‘Battle of Billionaires’ comes to an end
By Steve Cuozzo
June 16, 2016
The wealthy, elderly couple suing the co-op board of swanky 740 Park Ave. over noise and damage to their apartment can finally get some sleep.
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Kathryn Freed on Wednesday ordered the board to limit work being done by Oaktree Capital mogul Howard Marks in his duplex apartment to daylight hours as specified in building rules and to end violations of the city noise code.
The case, which The Post first reported on Monday, is the latest “battle of the billionaires” at 740 Park Ave., the fabled home to moguls and celebrities including Blackstone boss Steven Schwarzman, former NYSE chief John Thain and fashion maven Vera Wang. The building has also recently been rocked by robberies, fire, a flood and crumbling limestone.
Marks bought a 22,000 square-foot duplex on the 12th and 13th floors four years ago from Time Warner widow Courtney Sale Ross for a then-record $52.5 million — but did not move in. He’s instead done “gigantic renovation and demolition” directly on top of an apartment owned by longtime residents Hamburg Tang, 85, the founder of Queens-based semiconductor company Alloys Unlimited, and his wife Miranda, 80.
The Tangs, represented by lawyer Adam Leitman Bailey, sued the board and Marks over damage allegedly caused by the construction going on the floor above them — including a ceiling collapse in the Tangs’ bedroom and breakage of “priceless artwork.” It also made it impossible for the couple to sleep and inflicted Miranda Tang with a “sense of helplessness.”
Freed’s order requires the board to strictly limit work to daylight hours once the Tangs return from a vacation on June 21, as well as to enforce “structural alterations” rules.
When a lawyer for the board claimed not to know the source of the racket, Freed said, “The noise will stop. It’s the board’s responsibility to find out where it’s coming from and to stop it.”
Freed set another hearing for July 12.
Bailey told The Post, “Judge Freed did an outstanding job of listening to the facts and listening to my clients.”
Board lawyer Abigail Snow could not immediately be reached.
