Illusionist David Copperfield has allowed his multimillion-dollar Manhattan apartment to “deteriorate into a state of… disrepair” so severe that architects warned it could threaten the structural integrity of the entire building.
That’s according to a high-profile lawsuit filed Tuesday by the board of The Galleria, an apartment building on East 57th Street. The board accuses Copperfield, 67, the world’s highest-paid magician, of causing some $3 million in damages not only to his own “previously pristine multi-story penthouse” but also to the homes of other tenants.
Copperfield has “destroyed” the place, which he no longer lives in but still owns, and left it in “appalling” condition, the complaint says. His motivation for destroying his own apartment and allowing it to fall into disrepair “is entirely unclear, especially since he still owns the Unit and is offering it for sale,” the complaint says.
While the situation presented potential health risks in addition to the physical decay, the complaint alleges that Copperfield “refuses to face the consequences of his actions and denies all responsibility for the damage he caused to the building and its former neighbors.”
Joshua Stricoff, the attorney who filed the lawsuit on behalf of The Galleria, said The independent He had nothing to add that was not already in the complaint, and the allegations and photographs of the destroyed vehicle in the court documents required no further explanation.
In an email sent after this article was published, a representative for Copperfield said, “This is a simple insurance claim. The photos included in the lawsuit do not reflect the current condition of the apartment. This is a legal matter and will be addressed in court.”
Copperfield, born David Kotkin in Metuchen, New Jersey, began performing at age 12 under the name “Davino, the Boy Magician.” In the years since, Copperfield has won 21 Emmy Awards, been named King of Magic by the Society of American Magicians, and received the Living Legend Award from the Library of Congress.
He owns 11 private islands and his face appears on postage stamps issued by countries including Guyana, Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Copperfield was also recently accused of sexual abuse, a charge he has vehemently denied, and has been linked to the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Copperfield’s 15,000-square-foot quadruplex, which occupies the building’s 54th floor and includes an indoor pool, consists of two penthouses that were originally combined into one “dream home” in the mid-1970s by General Motors heir Stewart Rawlings Mott. In 1991, The Galleria made headlines when Eric Clapton’s 4-year-old son fell from an open window on the 53rd floor.
Copperfield bought the unit in 1997 for $7.4 million, according to the complaint, which says the property is so large that it is served by its own heating, ventilation, electrical and hot water systems. Because the equipment is not used by other tenants, the complaint says condo bylaws place the responsibility for maintenance and repairs on the apartment owner.
Copperfield’s presence in the building has been “tumultuous” from the start, the complaint continues, calling him “far from a model resident.” When Copperfield took possession of the sprawling penthouse, the complaint says he “notoriously stocked the Unit with novelties such as fortune-telling machines, classic arcade games, and other, more bizarre items such as ‘hazing devices’ apparently used by various fraternities and sororities during the turn of the century.”
The problems Copperfield later brought to light are “a major and ongoing problem – much publicized in Page Six and elsewhere – for a considerable period of time,” the complaint said.
In 2009, it was alleged that Copperfield’s private elevator violated New York City Department of Buildings regulations, resulting in the apartment complex’s board of directors fining an undisclosed amount in fines and penalties.
In 2015, Copperfield’s indoor pool burst, which the complaint alleges was caused by the magician’s use of “illegal and ineffective plastic plumbing fixtures.” The complaint says the water flooded throughout the building, causing damage to elevators and apartments up to 30 floors below.
In 2017, Copperfield “brought the apartment complex to the brink of litigation again” over required window repairs that he had simply ignored for years, the complaint says.
But the following year, it says, the surreal tide turned.
In 2018, the complaint said, “Copperfield vacated the Unit and stripped it of all furnishings and inventory.”
“Since then, Copperfield has allowed the Unit to deteriorate into a state of complete neglect,” the complaint states. “To say he has destroyed the Unit is an understatement. The photographs of the Unit are horrific and speak for themselves.”
When the condo board discovered the condition of Copperfield’s apartment, it hired an architectural firm to assess the damage, the complaint says. The architects compiled their findings in a March 10 report that the board says “confirmed [its] worst fears.”
Between extensive water damage that threatened the concrete structure of the building itself; interior water damage that fueled mold growth so severe it obscured the underlying problems; leaking skylights and carpentry; falling debris that posed an “active safety hazard” to anyone entering the space; pipes that were on the verge of bursting; inadequate protection against gas leaks; shoddy electrical work that didn’t meet code, “varying levels of contamination” in the bathrooms and “large amounts of unattended flammable materials,” the architects’ report says the apartment’s “current conditions present potential safety and health hazards and should not be left in an occupied building.”
The apartment complex’s board says it sent the architect’s report to Copperfield’s attorney, “to no avail.”
“In response, Copperfield has at most had band-aids applied to some of the purely cosmetic problems identified by the manufacturer. [the report]”, the complaint states. “A number of the more significant and dangerous issues, such as subsurface decay/damage, structural stability, and mold growth, remain unresolved.”
According to the complaint, the board learned that when Copperfield left in 2018, he fired his housekeeper, his housekeeper, and his handyman (who maintained the apartment’s custom-built mechanical equipment).
Since then, “unbeknownst to the Board,” no one has looked after the equipment, leading to a Dec. 27, 2023, valve failure in Copperfield’s machine room that “completely surprised” building management. That, the complaint says, caused flooding in several apartments, elevator shafts, hallways and beyond, requiring an estimated $3 million in repairs.
Copperfield and his insurer told the board of the homeowners association that he and his staff were not aware of the technical room and that they were not required to maintain it. The complaint dismisses this claim as fiction, since they had performed these tasks years earlier.
The Board still does not know the full extent of the damage it claims Copperfield caused, but believes that the “level of decay Copperfield allowed to occur in his Unit likely penetrated to a subterranean level.” The Board continues to uncover additional damages and says it “reserves all rights” in its complaint to amend the filing to include “newly estimated repair costs resulting from Copperfield’s destruction of his Unit and reckless disregard of his duty of care to the Condominium, the terms of the Condominium’s governing documents and basic decency.”
In short, the complaint concludes: “Copperfield must be held accountable for his misconduct.”
The board of the homeowners association is seeking a total of $7.5 million, plus damages and legal fees yet to be determined.