A $10 Million Tree Grows in Sean Lennon’s West 13th Street Front Yard
Well, at least that’s what one disgruntled Greenwich Village neighbor is hoping. Gary and Addie Tomei, parents of actress Marisa Tomei, have filed a lawsuit against next-door neighbor Sean Lennon, son of John and Yoko, alleging that a tree on his property (153 West 13th Street) has spread its roots onto their property (155 West 13th Street), cracking the stoop, breaking the railings, and coming through the basement floor of their townhouse. Sure, they want Lennon to chop the tree down, but they also want $10 million, according to the Post.
Lennon bought his three-story, 4,000-square-foot townhouse in 2008 for $9.5 million, and it’s currently under construction. The tree in question is a 50-year-old, 60-foot-tall ailanthus, better known as a “tree of heaven,” which is an invasive species native to China. In their suit, the Tomeis are claiming that the tree is diseased and partially hollow and that they’ve asked Lennon to remove the tree repeatedly, but he’s “refused to remedy the problem even though his own arborist and mason confirmed the hazardous condition.”
[Via NYP]
