You used to need a gun and a couple of hired goons to run shakedown rackets in the Big Apple — but these days, the feds will help you do it.
On behalf of Jocelyn Pierre, a paraplegic New Yorker, lawyer brothers Bradly and Darren Marks have filed 113 federal Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuits against businesses across the city.
The result? Pierre’s living in swanky digs and has reportedly bought a Mercedes, which implies an even nicer payday for the Marks brothers.Â
The basic idea is pretty simple: Pierre claims he’s tried to enter a business but couldn’t; his lawyers then swoop in to sue on the grounds that the place is violating the ADA.
It’s cheaper and easier for most places just to settle, rather than fight it out through the courts.
Pierre and the Marks brothers (in a scheme worthy of Groucho himself) have targeted upscale joints like the Paul Stuart boutique on Madison and celeb fave pizza spot Lucali in Carroll Gardens, but also mom-and-pop businesses.
Like Electric Lotus, a Fort Greene tattoo parlor, and Emma’s Torch, a culinary nonprofit that helps refugees get restaurant training.
That’s the way, boys — bankrupt local charities for fun and profit!
And if you believe that Pierre has actually been harmed by any of these places, we have a bridge to sell you.
The guy who runs Electric Lotus has zero memory of Pierre ever even coming in, reportedly a common theme in these lawsuits.
And his complaint against Lucali was filed two years after he allegedly faced noncompliant entry problems there — conveniently, after the security camera tapes that could exonerate the pizza place would auto-erase.
This racket’s not even new; The Post reported on a similar serial ADA “victim” back in 2011.
Federal reform could stop the ADA scam-suits, but New York laws do plenty to enable similar schemes.
Someday, maybe the state will have an attorney general who bothers to protect the public from the legal shakedown artists.