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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
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Verizon Cost Building Owner $2 Million After Cutting Landline, Lawsuit Says

 The owner of 315 E. 58 St. in Sutton Place filed a lawsuit against Verizon claiming the company ruined a real estate deal for him when it disconnected his landline while doing work.
The owner of 315 E. 58 St. in Sutton Place filed a lawsuit against Verizon claiming the company ruined a real estate deal for him when it disconnected his landline while doing work.
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DNAinfo/Ben Fractenberg

MIDTOWN — Can you hear him now?

A Sutton Place senior claims Verizon cost him $2 million after the phone company cut his landline during maintenance work — causing him to miss calls from a prospective buyer of his five-story building, according to a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit filed this week.

Per Von Scheele, who lives at 315 E. 58 St. next to a ramp to the Queensboro Bridge with his ailing elderly wife, claimed in court papers filed June 26 that the utility company undermined his property sale in 2016 when the building was worth more than $8 million.

Unbeknownst to Von Scheele, his landline was shut off by Verizon just as a potential buyer was trying to call his home to make an offer, his lawyer told DNAinfo.

The buyer became frustrated after not hearing back and withdrew the offer. The building is now valued at less than $6 million, causing Von Scheele to lose $2 million in potential profit. 

Von Scheele, who asked Verizon to provide its fiber-optic network to his address under its contract with the city, said he still does not have landline service, endangering his wife, according to the lawsuit. He does have a cellphone, but his wife doesn't use one, the suit notes.

“It’s always important for someone who is old and in failing health to have the ability to dial 911,” his lawyer, Roger Marion, told DNAinfo. “People of a certain age, cellphones are foreign to them.”

The lawyer added that cellphones are also not reliable.

“A landline works when power is out, when cellphones don’t,” the lawyer said. “When you’re in an emergency, everyone hits their cell at the same time. A landline always works.”

The city also filed suit against Verizon in March, arguing the company broke its contract to provide fiber-optic coverage to every home by 2014.

Von Scheele's lawsuit is asking for $2 million plus legal fees. 

A call to a business in the building was answered, but several calls to Von Scheele's landline did not go through. 

A spokesman for Verizon said they had not received the lawsuit and were unable to comment.