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A couple are suing a New York hotel for $5 million after they say 'severe' noise restrictions 'destroyed' their daughter's wedding

Feb 8, 2022, 18:27 IST
Insider
Russell and Marjorie Newman are suing Brooklyn Pier 1 Hotel.Courtesy of Sanford Rubenstein
  • A couple suing Brooklyn Pier 1 Hotel say its noise restrictions ruined their daughter's wedding.
  • They say they weren't told of the restrictions, which made them move the wedding into another room.
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Two parents are suing a New York hotel for $5 million after they say "severe" noise restrictions "destroyed" their daughter's wedding.

Marjorie and Russell Newman threw their daughter, Jessica Alovis, and son-in-law, Matt Alovis, a wedding at the Brooklyn Pier 1 Hotel on September 18, according to a complaint filed in the Kings County Supreme Court on January 31 and viewed by Insider. Guerdy Abraira, a "Real Housewives of Miami" star, planned the event.

Representatives for the Brooklyn Pier 1 Hotel and Abraira didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Newmans said in the complaint that they spent "hundreds of thousands of dollars" on the 200-person event. The New York Post said they spent $150,000 on flowers alone.

The Newmans also said the hotel "destroyed" the wedding by failing to inform them that there would be a "severe limitation on the sound level of the music" at the reception.

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The complaint said the hotel didn't allow the DJ to use any bass tones during the reception, making the volume so low that guests could barely hear it. The Post reported that the restrictions existed to accommodate residential condos in the building.

Jessica and Matt Alovis on their wedding day.Courtesy of Sanford Rubenstein

The complaint said the music the Newmans hoped to play at the wedding was approved by a hotel staff member named Bethanne Laterni before they signed a contract with the venue. Laterni didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Marjorie Newman got an email from the venue a few days before the wedding that the complaint said indicated there might be problems with the music but "did not make clear that they could not play the music in any meaningful way."

"The elimination of the bass and the restriction of the decibel level during the reception was woefully low, inadequate and inappropriate for this Wedding, or any wedding, and undenounced to the Newmans," the complaint said.

The complaint said the noise restriction disrupted the Alovises' first dance and ultimately "forced" the Newmans and their 200 guests to move the reception to a room in another building. The Newmans said in the complaint that the new space was "much smaller" and "dingy" and didn't have enough space or tables and chairs for the guests.

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The original space versus the second location.Courtesy of Sanford Rubenstein

The couple also said the hotel staff didn't help guests get to the new building, which they said led "at least half, if not more, of the guests" to leave the wedding early. The complaint said the location change also prevented the wedding dinner from being "properly or fully" served.

Russell Newman, who owns the real-estate company Newman Properties, told the Post that his daughter Jessica became extremely upset as a result of the events of the wedding.

"After about a half-hour into this, she was hysterical and crying," he told the Post. "This is not how she envisioned her dream wedding."

The Newmans said the new space was overcrowded.Courtesy of Sanford Rubenstein

Marjorie Newman told the Post her daughter also couldn't do her bouquet toss.

The Newmans are suing the hotel, Abraira, and Laterni alleging breach of contract, fraud, tortious breach of the duty of care, negligent misrepresentation, deceptive business practices, and emotional distress. They are seeking $5 million in damages.

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The Newmans' lawyer Sanford Rubenstein and cocounsel Mark Shirian told Insider in a statement: "To turn a beautiful dream into a nightmare and spoil one of the most important days in a girl's life — her wedding day — in our opinion is an example of corporate greed at its worse."

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