Lawsuit Filed | News, Sports, Jobs

Firefighters are pictured fighting a fire at 1061 Allen St. ravaged the former Crawford Furniture building in November 2022. Earlier this week Artone Manufacturing’s insurance filed a lawsuit seeking to recoup money from the owners of 1061 Allen St. that the insurance company paid to Artone for damages to Artone’s building and its contents.
P-J file photo

Selective Insurance Company Inc., which represents Artone manufacturing on Allen Street, is suing the company that owned 1061 Allen Street to recoup damages from a 2022 fire that destroyed a former Crawford Furniture Company building and caused damages to the Artone Building and its contents.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in state Supreme Court in Mayville. The insurance company says embers and smoke from the fire spread from 1061 Allen St. to the Artone building before the fire was extinguished. Selective Insurance Company paid $1,271,668.33 to or on behalf of Artone for damages resulting from the fire. Now, the insurance company is looking to recoup those costs from Allen Street Development LLC, Richard J. Rusiniak and Patricia Rusiniak.

“As a direct, proximate and foreseeable result of the fire, the Artone Building and its contents sustained significant damages,” attorney Daniel Hogan of Robert A. Stutman P.C. in New York City wrote in the insurance company’s complaint filed with the court.

Roughly eight months before the November 2022 fire, Jamestown officials publicly called on Allen Street Development to improve the building. Officials with the city Department of Development, police department, fire department, DPW and BPU along with investigators from the Environmental Protection Agency and state Department of Environmental Conservation had inspected the main building of the long-vacant complex. Officials also took inventory and sought to test suspected hazardous materials found on site.

Crystal Surdyk, city director of development, said the property has been condemned due to “imminent structural collapse caused by long deteriorating conditions as a direct result of property owner neglect.”

Allen Street Development LLC had been cited several times by Larry Scalise, the city’s building and zoning code enforcement officer, for a bevy of violations including for junk and debris and for failure to renovate or demolish. Allen Street Development had been issued a summons six times over two years for appearances in Jamestown City Court to address the code violations. She said the son of the owners appeared for two of those scheduled court appearances. The son, acting as a representative, reportedly told the court he would relay the judge’s orders.

Hogan wrote that Allen Street Development should be held responsible for the fire’s costs to Artone because Allen Street Development failed to use and/or occupy the 1061 Allen Street building in a reasonably safe manner; failed to inspect, maintain and/or repair the building in a reasonably safe manner; failed to secure the building to prevent trespassing, squatting and other unauthorized access to the building; failed to respond to complaints and warnings regarding the unsafe and unsecure condition of the building; failed to comply with applicable codes, standards and regulations regarding proper maintenance and security of commercial buildings; failed to monitor the condition and security of the building; knowingly allowed the building to become a fire hazard and “haven for criminal activity;” and knowingly created a foreseeable risk of harm to people and property.

“The fire was a direct, proximate and foreseeable result of (Allen Street Development’s) breaches of its common law duties to act with reasonable care, as described above,” Hogan said.

According to WRFA-LP, which reported on the lawsuit Friday morning, the city of Jamestown had tried to recoup some of its costs to fight the November 2022 fire but received only $5,000 in fines assigned by Jamestown Housing Court. WRFA reported that money was used to install decontamination equipment at Jamestown Fire Station 1.

Artone’s insurance company is asking the state Supreme Court to impose a more significant penalty.

“The Rusiniaks’ complete domination of ASD was used to commit a wrong against the Jamestown community, including but not limited to Artone, by and through the neglect of the 1061 Building,” Hogan wrote in his complaint. “The Rusiniaks and ASD abused the privilege of doing business in the corporate form by acquiring and owning the 1061 Building under the guise of development but failing to develop the 1061 Building at all and instead neglecting the 1061 Building and permitting it to fall into complete disrepair as set forth in greater detail herein. The aforementioned abuse of the privilege of doing business in the corporate form perpetuated a wrong and injustice to the Jamestown community, including but not limited to Artone. Further, the Rusiniaks’ perversion of the privilege of doing business in the corporate form perpetuated illegal activity and code violations at the 1061 Building and created a severe safety hazard. At all material times, ASD was undercapitalized in that it could not maintain, secure or care for the 1061 Building. At all material times, ASD failed to adhere to corporate formalities by: a) failing

to maintain, secure or otherwise neglecting the 1061 Building; and b) utilizing non-employees to appear for court proceedings brought against ASD.”