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Magician David Copperfield sued by NYC condo board for trashing, neglecting $7M Manhattan penthouse

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Magician David Copperfield sued by NYC condo board for trashing, neglecting M Manhattan penthouse

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.

David Copperfield, the 67-year-old magician, is being sued by a Manhattan condo board for allegedly trashing and neglecting the ritzy penthouse apartment he owns. Getty Images

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.

Photos attached to the lawsuit chronicled the extensive water damage. New York Supreme Court
Paint peeling off the magician’s walls. New York Supreme Court
The water damage appears to have ruined parts of the structure. New York Supreme Court

“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.

Pieces of the ceiling seen collapsing. New York Supreme Court
More water damage, which likely happened during one of two major deluges in the past decade. New York Supreme Court
Stained carpets in Copperfield’s apartment. New York Supreme Court

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.

A digusting tub in the abandoned apartment, which has been empty since 2018. New York Supreme Court

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.

On Wednesday, one neighbor said that although Copperfield was a pleasant enough person — he met the magician in the elevator once — he should fix the damage attributed to him.

Copperfield bought the condo in 1997, then transferred ownership to a shell company he owns. New York Supreme Court

“It’s his apartment,” said the neighbor, a man named Elliot who has lived in the building since 1976. “Over here, it’s a condominium. So everybody is responsible for their own apartment.”

Although his condo wasn’t affected by either flood, he added the glass apartments are “leaking all the time.”

“It needs like 20 million dollars to be repaired,” he said, adding that he heard that from the building maintenance people. “He can’t do magic to make the building disappear.”  

Copperfield’s 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.

Copperfield abruptly moved out in 2018. New York Supreme Court

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.

The magician allegedly neglected maintenance since leaving the building, even though he still owns the penthouse. New York Supreme Court

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.

Copperfield’s penthouse is located in the Galleria Condominium complex Google Maps

“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.”

Copperfield filled the unit with strange novelties, including arcade games and “hazing devices” from the turn of the century, the suit said. REUTERS

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.”

— Additional reporting by Steven Vago

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