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Smoker to Pay Penalty of $2K Per Cigar to Anti-Smoke Neighbors
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 24, 2011
Modified Feb 24, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 24, 2011
Modified Feb 24, 2011
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After months of enduring the cigar smoke wafting into his apartment from his elderly neighbor's unit, Upper East Side resident Russell Poses couldn't take it any more. He claims neighbor Harry Lyson had stubbornly refused to give up his cigars, leaving Poses and his wife—who live with their two children on East 79th Street—no choice but to file a $2 million lawsuit against him. But a nasty legal battle came to an end yesterday, and Lyson got off easy with a settlement that will cost him just $2,000 per cigar if the Poses family ever smells smoke.
And if Lyson doesn't pay the fine within 15 days, he'll owe an additional $1,500 per violation, according to the agreement. His lawyer says the deal puts his client out into the street (though he better stay away from the park). "This was one of the few pleasures left in his life," attorney Jeffrey Marcus tells the Daily News. "At his age, I felt he'd earned the right to enjoy his cigar and his brandy at the end of the day." But Poses, an equities trader, insisted his neighbor's filthy pleasure was stinking up his dining room. Of course, you've got to wonder: what kind of red-blooded Wall Street trader objects to a little cigar smoke?
Tagged
cigar
cigar smoke
co-op
harry lyson
smoking
upper east side
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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