NEW YORK CITY, NY – Reports have surfaced about a local business based off of Madison Avenue in New York City that has crafted up a lawsuit in regard to the riots that devastated their business on May 29th.
But who’s getting named in the suit is even more interesting. Listed is Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Bill de Blasio, the NYPD and the commissioner, and even the state of New York.
Madison Ave. Business Domus Design Center (DDC) Sues NY Democrat Governor Cuomo, NYC Democrat Mayor De Blasio for Riots, Estimates $100 Million in Damages (Last Chance To Stay in Business); Others Will Sue Shortly https://t.co/ttdc615dEj
— mathewsjw (@mathewsjw) July 10, 2020
Domus Design Center, or commonly referred to as DDC, was said to have experienced an estimated $100 million in damages by the way of riots, looting, and the ilk that ravaged New York City on the evening of May 29th – and now they’re saying someone has got to own up for the damage.
Attorney Sal Strazzullo is said to be representing DDC in the endeavor, and the attorney is noting that there’s merit to pointing the proverbial finger at elected officials and the NYPD in this effort.
One aspect that Strazzullo criticized was that of bail reform:
“Cuomo should have worried about hospital reform instead of bail reform. Getting a free pass, some criminals were not able to be detained pending trial and now we have looters.”
Madison Ave. Business Sues Cuomo, De Blasio for Riots, Estimates $100M in Damages – David Harris Jr https://t.co/CITlswcsiR
— ❌✝️Raised Right🇺🇸❌ (@RightMsmagnolia) July 14, 2020
Bringing up bail reform is certainly a solid point for naming the likes of Mayor de Blasio, as the issue may have very well contributed to the criminal activity that took place in late-May.
The attorney is seemingly flabbergasted that the once-beautiful city is resembling areas of a war-torn country:
“Who’d have imagined we’d have to board up our stores? We’re not in Afghanistan. Places like Saks Fifth, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Rolex being bombed out?”
Strazzullo further went on, saying that he and his client feel as though their taxes that are meant to preserve the likes of commercial properties were nothing more than a frivolous waste:
“Where are our tax dollars going? Rocks, bricks thrown? Glass smashed? Merchandise stolen? Thrown out? People hurt? Millions lost? Businesses destroyed? Lives crushed? Not protecting commercial properties is negligence of duty. It’s looters against New York City and state.”
While addressing the criminal damage that took place during the May 29th riots, Strazzullo also explained why the NYPD and Commissioner Dermot Shea were included in the lawsuit:
“Paying taxes that help pay the salary of the NYPD, we expect protection in return. Where was the city? The state? Officials failing to protect their residents? Government is responsible to protect its citizens and businesses against criminals who want to do bad.”
Madison Ave. Business Sues Cuomo, De Blasio for Riots, Estimates $100M in Damages https://t.co/5YWAowRlrd
— Patty Cake (@Pixierose13) July 14, 2020
The attorney is aware that some may be looking at the lawsuit being filed as some sort of a quick money grab, trying to capitalize on the chaos that impacted so many people in May and June. However, Strazzullo says this is more than just about money, it’s about making “a point”:
“Not every lawsuit is for money. This type of suit — about the city’s acts and omissions in failing to control or otherwise restrain violent protesters, which caused destruction to claimant’s retail store — is for a point.”
This lawsuit is going to be presented as a class action suit, according to the attorney. He says that once this effort gets moving that “others will come on board.”
It will certainly be an interesting case to watch develop to see if the courts agree with the shared culpability from the damage done by the riots.
Lawsuits have been quite the talk of the town lately in the aftermath of riots across the country, and the state of Washington has been seeing them crop up against elected officials recently as well.
The lawsuits are starting to pile up for both Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee over their handling of the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP) zone in downtown Seattle, the site of two recent fatal shootings.
STRANGE BUT TRUE: Judge Jerry’s Case of the Day! Seattle Mayor and Washington Governor are being sued for the city’s handling of CHOP! #JudgeJerry #JerrySpringer #CHOPhttps://t.co/e3OzaPzF49
— Judge Jerry (@JudgeJerryTV) July 7, 2020
Washington attorney Jacob Bozeman recently filed a suit against Durkan and Inslee, both Democrats, over CHOP, part of a Seattle neighborhood where protesters calling for racial justice have tried to create a police-free zone, according to Fox Business.
Not only does Bozeman say the city allowed it, he claims they helped create it by installing barricades and bathrooms. He told KIRO 7:
“To abdicate the authority to an unelected, unauthorized and armed group of people to decide who can come and go, who can be searched and seized, and under what portions of the city you can come and go from, for fear of physical retaliation against you, is unconstitutional.”
Bozeman, who has practiced law for 29 years and visited CHOP twice, told Fox Business:
“Allowing a group of people to say who comes, who goes, that’s a violation of the 1st, 4th and 14th Amendments.
“Damage has been done to all the citizens who wanted to exercise their free rights.”
Businesses sue Seattle over ‘occupied’ protest zone https://t.co/br2sPW3E3o The City Council and mayor of Seattle couldn’t care less about the business owners and its citizens. They are too busy appeasing Antifa, BLM, other radical groups, who they have publically supported.
— Pog (@OSINT220) June 26, 2020
Bozeman, who said several additional people are interested in joining the lawsuit against the mayor and governor, asked:
“What if every special interest group wanted to take over a portion of the city?
“I can’t understand how anybody could say the mayor and the governor of the state should abdicate their enforcement authority … to just give that up to an armed group of people who aren’t elected.”
Bozeman told Fox Business:
“I certainly felt danger, a very well-founded danger of physical violence against me if I were to do anything that wasn’t down with the program.”
King 5 reported that the Seattle City Attorney would “review this complaint and respond accordingly.”
The mayor also faces an additional class-action lawsuit filed on June 24 by several area businesses, property owners and residents, who claim that she and other leaders allowed lawlessness to fester and take over a portion of the city, thus depriving them of their rights to their property and making them feel unsafe.
Businesses sue Seattle over ‘occupied’ protest zone; Seek damages for lost business, property damage, deprivation of property rights as well as restoration of public access. [“Rights” not an issue for those who have higher vision of social justice] https://t.co/kfQs8H4FNc pic.twitter.com/f4CwTWviwX
— davrola (@davrola) June 25, 2020
The plaintiffs include a tattoo parlor, auto repair shop and property management firm, and the lawsuit stated:
“Rather, this lawsuit is about the constitutional and other legal rights of plaintiffs — businesses, employees, and residents in and around CHOP — which have been overrun by the city of Seattle’s unprecedented decision to abandon and close off an entire city neighborhood, leaving it unchecked by the police, unserved by fire and emergency health services, and inaccessible to the public at large.”
In the class-action lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, about a dozen businesses, residents and property owners claimed they were threatened for photographing protesters in public areas or for cleaning graffiti off their storefronts, according to AP News.
The owner of the auto shop Car Tender said a burglar broke in the night of June 14, started a fire using hand sanitizer as an accelerant and then attacked his son with a knife when confronted.
The owner and his son extinguished the fire and detained the burglar, the lawsuit said, but police never responded to their 911 calls. A large crowd of “CHOP participants” visited the business and forced the owner to release the arsonist.
Other businesses, including the family-run label manufacturing company Richmark Label, said they were unable to send or receive packages because delivery companies would not go near the protest zone or because access to their loading dock had been blocked by barricades, according to AP News.
I hope they get millions.
Businesses sue Seattle over ‘occupied’ protest zone – ABC News – https://t.co/4QiIjbLHkR via @ABC
— Coleman 💲🇺🇸 (@ColemanMulkerin) June 26, 2020
In the lawsuit, Magdalena Sky, the proprietor of Tattoos and Fortune, said she is a supporter of Black Lives Matter, but that her business lost a lot of money due to the protest. A physical therapist and wine shop also complained clients or customers had been afraid to enter the area, reported AP News:
“The complaint said that the city’s decision to turn over the blocks and a nearby park to the demonstrators deprived them of their property rights without due process and amounted to an illegal gift of public property to the protesters.”
The plaintiffs are seeking damages for lost business, property damage and deprivation of their property rights as well as the restoration of full public access, according to AP News.
Bozeman wants a federal court order to prevent another protest zone and told KIRO 7:
“Seattle has, for some time perpetuated a culture where people come in and basically do what they want, destroy property, riot, if you will, and now they’ve got this idea it is part of their civil right to take over a portion of the city.”
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