Millionaire hoarder hell
Lawsuit: Boot my bro
A multimillionaire hoarder has squandered his brother’s inheritance by turning the family’s $10 million brownstone steps from Central Park into a wasteland of rotting garbage, toxic mold and vermin infestations, according to a new lawsuit.
So Andrew Lindsay Cohen, of Pownal, Vt., is suing his older sibling, James S. Cohen, of 35 W. 83rd St., to force him out of their late parents’ home.
James was left $1 million in mom Cynthia Cohen’s will when she died in 2007. But the siblings’ dad, Joseph Cohen, died in 2011, before paying the $1 million to James, according to Manhattan Surrogate’s Court records.
At the time, a shared lawyer for both brothers agreed that James, 60, would get a bigger cut of the family townhouse since he never collected his bequest.
But since then, James hasn’t paid the mortgage, according to Andrew’s suit. Instead, he has allegedly crammed the 20-by-80-foot property with junk.
“James has allowed papers, garbage, old possessions, boxes, other filth and detritus to accumulate to the point that certain rooms cannot even be physically entered,” Andrew says in court papers.
“Plaster and paint are falling off the walls and ceilings, interior stairs are sagging; the back porch area is collapsing,” the papers state.
Andrew, 56, was at the home Thursday, removing his belongings. “If you want to survive, you wouldn’t go in there,” he warned.
Last month, Andrew hired an air-quality inspector, who reported “severe water damage, mold growth, insect infestation, rodent infestation, and a heavy buildup of dust,” adding, “To live here would be to live in squalor.”
James did not answer calls for comment.