According to a $2 million lawsuit, two frightened and irate neighbors were forced to leave a posh Sutton Place co-op after one of the dogs allegedly buried its teeth into them.
Anthony and Barbara Liberatore, who live next door to board president Bill Lawson, his wife Melissa, and their two big fur babies, George and Bodie, have found the sixth floor of 2 Sutton Pl. to be a toothy nightmare.
The Liberatores said in court documents that Bodie has been permitted to wander freely and has surrounded and harassed each of them in separate sixth-floor events, despite house rules that mandate canines must be leashed in common areas.
According to the Manhattan Supreme Court complaint, Bodie “bolted out of the Lawson Apartment (the front door was left ajar) and attacked Mrs. Liberatore” in May 2021 as Barbara was making her way from the elevator to her door.
Mrs. Liberatore was literally pushed against the front door by Bodie, who then savagely attacked her and bit her on the upper right leg and right wrist.
According to the couple, “Her skin was punctured through two layers of clothing.”
Barbara Liberatore immediately complained to the management firm, who informed her that the Lawsons, the owners of the Shoe-Inn retail footwear chain, would have to mute Bodie. However, according to the lawsuit, that didn’t happen.
Bodie allegedly targeted Anthony Liberatore in September when he heard the dogs and attempted to flee to the safety of his apartment while he was waiting for the elevator.
The lawsuit claims that “Bodie — unleashed and unmuzzled — bolted” and pushed the resident against his front door before Mr. Liberatore could open it. He was bloodied after Bodie allegedly bit his lower back.
The terrified couple escaped to their Long Island weekend home, where they have three little, elderly dogs of their own.
The Lawsons and the co-op, whose flats with two or three bedrooms usually fetch around $2 million, are being sued for not upholding the building’s regulations “against a shareholder who happens to be the Board President.”
The charges against 12-year-old Bodie infuriated Lawson.
He has always been on a leash. No one in the building can ever claim that he has been off leash there; it is simply untrue,” he said.
Although Lawson acknowledged the bites, he said that when Bodie ran out, Barbara was crouching and petting another dog.
The day following the September incident with Anthony Liberatore, Bodie, who spent six years regularly attending co-op board meetings in the Lawson apartment, was kicked out of Sutton Place. She currently resides in East Hampton with Melissa Lawson.
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Fortunately, we have a different residence. It disturbs our marriage and our lives. Bill Lawson stated that although Bodie “shouldn’t be biting people, for sure,” the Liberatores case was “absurd.” “It stinks for everybody,” he added.
According to Lawson, who has spent fifty years living in Sutton Place, the Liberatores were hardly present and chose not to leave because of Bodie.
For them, this is a pied-à-terre.
Before rushing to court, the Liberatores attempted to settle the issue, but were unable to do so, according to their attorney, Steven Sladkus, who stated that it made no difference whether they kept the house as a pied-à-terre or not.
“If you came to the building once and a dog bit you would you be happy?” Sladkus stated. “This is a very serious situation and my clients don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”
