A Madison Avenue business is suing both Gov Andrew Cuomo and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio along with the NY Police Department and others for failing to act to stop the looters and the vandals who damaged 450 businesses while the city and state refused to call in the National Guard and more or less stood by and allowed the rioters to run wild.
Domus Design Center (DDC) on 134 Madison Ave has filed a lawsuit against the aforementioned entities and the lawyer handling the case expects that it will become a class action suit with total damage claims of over $100 million dollars. This could spread across the country to other cities who refused to to do anything to stop the riots. That would include such cities as Minneapolis, Portland and Seattle.
Sal Strazzullo, the lawyer who represents DDC said:
“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.”
“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.”
This lawsuit isn’t just about the money — it’s about the principle of the thing. “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,” the lawyer said. “This will be a class-action lawsuit. Costly. Because the others will come on board.”
Last month, sixteen residents and businesses in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle sued the city for violating their rights by supporting the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) Occupied Protest (CHOP). The case against Seattle over CHOP may be stronger than the case against Cuomo and de Blasio, but both involve the same principle. When governments fail to uphold the rights of their citizens and allow lawless rioters to destroy people’s livelihoods and endanger their lives, those governments need to be held accountable.