GRAMERCY — A school for children with autism has filed a petition in court against a catering company and hall for failing to return a deposit of more than $16,000 after Hurricane Sandy forced the venue to shut down before a scheduled fundraiser.
The LearningSpring School, a nonprofit K-8 school on 247 E. 20th St. at Second Avenue, filed a petition Monday asking a New York Supreme Court judge to intervene in the years-long dispute with the companies behind Bridgewaters, a now-shuttered South Street Seaport venue.
A week after Sandy hit, LearningSpring and Delta Dallas Alpha Corp — the catering company behind Bridgewaters — entered into a written agreement for the school's planned March 2013 fundraiser, according to the petition. The private school made a $16,401 deposit to hold the spot.
Two months later, Bridgewaters told LearningSpring that the venue was still closed and did not have a reopening date due to damage sustained during the storm, the petition said.
The school asked for its deposit back since the written agreement guaranteed that if Bridgewaters was unable to host the event “for any reason” — including “acts of God” — it would return the deposit. The agreement also said any disputes would be handled by arbitration.
Alexis DeAngelis, who at the time was the director of catering for Delta Dallas — and for its parent company The Glazier Group, Inc., according to LinkedIn — agreed in an email to schedule five installations of $3,280 to pay LearningSpring back, the petition said. But the school claims the money never came.
In November 2013, an arbitrator ruled Delta Dallas and The Glazier Group had breached the agreement, and ordered the companies to return the deposit and pay the school $5,747.17 for their legal and arbitration fees.
As of Monday when LearningSpring filed the petition, the school still hadn't seen the money.
The school receives about two-thirds of its funding from the state Department of Education, but must cover about $6,300 per student from funds it raises, according to its website. It was not immediately clear how many students attend the school, which was founded by parents of children with autism in fall 2001.
Bridgewaters made headlines back in 2013 for angering future brides and grooms by reportedly failing to return deposits to multiple couples after it closed in the wake of Sandy.
At the time, Bridgewaters was fighting its landlord, the Howard Hughes Corporation, in court to demand it allow the hall to open its doors at 11 Fulton St. The venue claimed it was losing about $1.3 million because of the landlord’s decision to keep the building closed despite minimal damage in an effort to force the company out of its relatively cheap lease.
A year later, Delta Dallas, The Glazier Group and a related company called Penny Port sued their insurance broker and company, claiming they had not been indemnified for losses from Sandy to Bridgewaters and Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse, which Glazier ran out of Grand Central Terminal. The groups claimed they suffered more than $221 million in losses from not being able to reopen, according to court documents.
Though that insurance case is still open, LearningSpring’s petition is specifically seeking to force Delta Dallas to pay the school out of any compensation received from the insurance lawsuit.
Thomas H. Herndon Jr., an attorney for LearningSprings, said he had no comment because a hearing is expected Wednesday. Representatives from the school also were not immediately available for comment.
The Glazier Group’s CEO and attorney Michael Glazier declined to comment. In a written opposition to the petition for the arbitration award, he said The Glazier Group should not be held responsible because it did not enter into a written agreement with LearningSpring and is a separate entity from Delta Dallas.
Glazier’s father, Peter Glazier, is listed as the CEO of Delta Dallas on state business filings. Peter Glazier co-founded the Glazier Group, which filed for bankruptcy in 2010.
