His disappearing act won’t fix this one. Famed magician David Copperfield is a negligent neighbor who left his ritzy Midtown penthouse in shambles — and the mess is so ridiculously bad that it threatens the building’s structural integrity, his condo board claims in a new $2.5 million lawsuit.
The Galleria condominium board attributed much of the damage to Copperfield’s own neglect — such as when “illegal and ineffective” plastic plumbing led his rooftop pool to burst in 2015, sending destructive torrents of water into homes 30 stories below. Or when a valve failed in the then-abandoned unit last December, sending another deluge into the elevator shafts, hallways and other condos, the Manhattan Supreme Court suit filed Tuesday alleges. The twin incidents — and lingering damage — may have even compromised the structural integrity of the 55-story luxury complex on East 57th Street, which Copperfield abruptly deserted in 2018.
“Rather than moving out in a safe and orderly fashion, Copperfield trashed the Unit,” the lawsuit states. “Since then, Copperfield has allowed the Unit to devolve into a state of utter disrepair.” Shocking photos attached to the suit illuminate the depths of the wreckage to the apartment — which Copperfield bought for $7.
4 million in 1997 — including several shots of paint peeling away from the walls like shucked corn husks, ceilings that appear to be crumbling and collapsing and badly-stained floors. “In fact, architects have warned the Condominium that, among other things, Copperfield’s apartment contains unrepaired water damage that is so severe that it presents risks to the ‘concrete structure of the building,’ facilitated the growth of mold and mildew, and actively endangers other apartments,” the lawsuit said. The 67-year-old magic man — who still works a long-running residency in Las Vegas and has a reported net worth of nearly $1 billion — has refused to take the complaints seriously, the suit charges.
He’s made only slight repairs to cosmetic issues, all while ignoring serious problems that, as they worsen, will endanger the health and safety of others in the building, according to the filing. “Copperfield’s motivation to trash his own apartment and permit it to decay is entirely unclear, especially when he still owns the Unit and is marketing it for sale,” the suit said. The board’s attorney, Joshua Stricoff, told The Post on Wednesday that the allegations — and the accompanying photos — “speak for themselves and don’t require any further elaboration.
” “The board hopes that Mr. Copperfield eventually does right by the building, and his unit,” Stricoff said. The board is seeking at least $2.
5 million in damages, and wants Copperfield to repair the destruction his negligence has caused, the suit said. In a Wednesday email, a representative for the magician called the issues “a simple insurance claim.” “The photographs included in the lawsuit don’t reflect the current state of the apartment,” the rep said.
“This is a court matter and will be handled in court.” Shortly after buying the 15,000 square-foot condo — a “formerly pristine multilevel penthouse apartment” with views of Central Park and the Upper East Side — Copperfield transferred ownership to a shell company he owns, the lawsuit said. Copperfield jammed the unit — described by Curbed in 2016 as “a spaceship-like assemblage of glass levels that sit on top of a Midtown condo building” — with a menagerie of weirdness, including a 100-year-old “surprise chair” with a trap bottom, a floor full of antique arcade games, dozens of mannequins, an “exploding table” and stairs that turn into a slide, the outlet said.
The condo is so large that it has its own mechanical equipment — entirely separate from the heating, ventilation, electrical, hot water and other utilities that service the rest of the building. The suit claimed it was Copperfield’s responsibility to maintain the infrastructure that kept his space up-and-running — but he didn’t always do that. His alleged neglect often had disastrous consequences, the suit said.
The 2015 pool incident, for example, was caused by his use of “illegal and ineffective plastic plumbing fixtures” that eventually failed, the suit said. And the most recent flood happened when a valve in the mechanical service room failed on Dec. 27, 2023.
The condo board claims this was, in part, because Copperfield fired his house manager, housekeeper and handyman when he abruptly vanished from the building in 2018. “Resultingly, Copperfield—unbeknownst to the Board—completely neglected all maintenance of the Mechanical Equipment that exclusively fed the Unit for a period of years,” the suit said. “In typical fashion, Copperfield refuses to confront the consequences of his actions and denies all responsibility for the damage he has caused to the building and his former neighbors.
” An architect who assessed the unit compiled a laundry list of problems, including water damage that compromised the building’s structural integrity, leaking skylights, mold and mildew, collapsing ceilings, unstable pipes and inadequate gas protection, among many other things. The board sent the March report to Copperfield’s attorney — “to no avail.” It’s not the first time in recent months Copperfield found himself in hot water.
Back in May, he was accused of sexual misconduct by 16 women — some of whom claim they were underage at the time, or drugged. The magician has denied the allegations, and insisted that he has “never, ever acted inappropriately with anyone, let alone anyone underage.”.
