The REAL billionaire's row: Financier goes to war with his NYC co-op board for 'being run like the MOB' as he accuses it of 'extortion, bribery and racketeering' under the noses of residents like Michael J Fox, a Rockefeller scion and Wall Street tycoons

A legal war has broken out among the residents of a 5th Avenue co-op that houses some of New York's wealthiest citizens.

A couple who have lived in the pre-war building at 93rd and 5th have brought a dramatic lawsuit against the co-op board that accuses its former president and members of running the building like a mob.

Elizabeth Sawyer and her husband Clifford Press, owners of a 12-room park-facing unit, have claimed that 'a racket has been operating for over a decade in plain view and with impunity on a tony stretch of upper Fifth Avenue.'

'Hidden behind the limestone façade of a Museum Mile neoclassical is a corrupt group of entrenched cooperative directors who are exploiting the corporation by their criminal and other bad acts,' reads the suit.

The aim of the couple is to oust the board of 1120 5th Ave. after a history of incidents they've identified a corrupt including the board hiring the then-president's cousin for a $500,000 elevator upgrade operation.

Clifford Press (center) and Elizabeth Sawyer Press (right) are suing the board of their Fifth Avenue co-op under the RICO Act

The couple claims the board of the 44-unit building on East 93rd has been operating like a mob for years, at the direct expense of the shareholders

The suit was filed last Tuesday in Manhattan Supreme Court and aims to use the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act to obtain its goal.

'Racketeering enterprises are not confined to the docks of Brooklyn or the markets of the Bronx,' reads the opening line of the 47-page complaint.

The couple have named 13 current and former members of the board as defendants, including ex-president John Breglio, an attorney turned Broadway producer who worked with the original creators of 'A Chorus Line.'

Residents of the swanky Museum Mile building include Mary Morgan, daughter of former NY Governor and US Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, Steve Greenberg, the son of Jewish baseball star Hank 'The Hebrew Hammer' Greenberg, and actor Micheal J. Fox, who along with his wife, own one of the building's 44 units.

Press, 70, told The Daily Beast that it is mostly the 'B and C' side residents who sit on the 11-person co-op board.

'They’re in the sort of cheaper apartments,' he said of the owners of units that sell for between $5-$10million. His park-facing unit is valued at $10million at the absolute least.

A four-bed, four-bath eighth floor apartment in the building with park views recently sold for close to $14million, according to StreetEasy. 

Moreover, he said, he has been shocked 'by the extent of the venality and self-dealing' that takes place inside his building's bureaucracy.

Among the other claims in the suit, Press and Sawyer allege that during his tenure, Breglio pushed for a 'wasteful and unnecessary' elevator repair project that cost half-a-million dollars.

The project contract was awarded to his cousin's company in 2018 and, importantly, allegedly failed its primary goal of updating the elevators, which now stop working 'on such a frequent basis that they have become a hazard to families and children,' according to the suit.

Lawyer-turned-Broadway producer John Breglio, the former board president, is accused of being the leader of the effort, having allegedly over the years run pressure campaigns against residents and awarded high value contracts to family members

The tony building is home to some of New York's wealthiest and most successful citizens. Michael J. Fox and his wife Tracy Pollan own a unit in the building 

The late Oscar winner Paul Newman (right) and his wife Joanne Woodward at one time occupied the penthouse of the elegant pre-war structure

Furthermore, the suit details an issue experienced by residents Larry and Anouk Berger, who sued the building in 2017 after leaks from caused water and mold damage to their just-purchased apartment.

They say the board addressed the matter with 'contempt and hostility.'

During a subsequent dispute, the board evidently 'falsely accused [the Bergers] of "fabricating" stories' -  a claim that was 'immediately refuted' with 'unequivocal evidence.'

The board ultimately paid the Bergers a $300,000 settlement due to its obvious wrongdoing, which then-president Breglio allegedly pressured the couple to return to the building.

The Bergers did not comment on Sawyer and Press' lawsuit.

Breglio, who became president in 2012, promptly began a 'takeover of the Board' that included solidifying his 'core group [of loyalists]' and purging 'any directors who wavered in their support.'

The Beast reports that Breglio, when reached by phone, said he didn't 'want to discuss the lawsuit in any way because, for obvious reasons, it’s being dealt with by the lawyers.'

Michael Pensabene, a lawyer for the board, has since responded to the suit, calling it a 'frivolous' and 'meritless lawsuit was brought by a disgruntled co-op resident for the sole purpose of harassing her neighbors, who voluntarily serve the building on the co-op’s board,' according to the New York Post.

'This is a flagrant abuse of judicial process and we are confident that this frivolous complaint will be promptly dismissed,' he added. 

Press (left) and Sawyer (second from right)were threatened with eviction during the middle of the COVID pandemic due to accusations they call categorically false 

Press said that it is mostly the 'B and C' side unit owners - whose non-parking-facing apartments are cheaper than his unit - who are running the board like a mafia

According to StreetEasy, a four-bed, four-bath park-facing unit was recently sold for $13.7million

Trouble between Sawyer, Press, and the board has been brewing for years, according to the filing.

The board tried and failed to kick the couple out of building in March 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The body claimed that Sawyer had blocked a fire exit with water jugs she was storing int he stairwell, and that Press had kicked another resident's dog, drawing blood.

The couple say the dog incident is a 'knowingly false' claim and 'in fact, Mr. Press is well-known in the building for his commitment to, and affection for, dogs.'

The financial executive, who met his wife while they both attended Harvard Business School, owns a Jack Russell terrier named Willa.

Among a handful of other legal scuffles, Press notably resigned from his CEO position at investment firm Acadia Research Corp. in 2022 over an internal prove that alleged he'd misused corporate funds for personal matters, including charitable donation in his own name.

Press sued the firm and was awarded a $1.25million settlement last September.

Residents have reportedly been by the board not to speak with the press about the unfolding suit.

But that hasn't stopped a small handful who have chosen to remain anonymous.

'We're literally being told not to talk to you, that there’s nothing to see, and that this will all be dismissed, which is categorically a lie,' one resident told The Beast. 'Many of the board members seem to believe they can keep gaslighting the shareholders.'

Another said that Press' campaign 'isn't some work of a crazy person.'

'My personal opinion is that this is a very proud, very intelligent man who they've humiliated,' they added.

Greenberg and Morgan - both board members - are also listed as co-defendants in the suit. Greenberg is the son of famed baseball player Hank 'The Hebrew Hammer' Greenberg, and Morgan is the daughter of former US Vice President Nelson Rockefeller

Another resident, Stan Stein, whose wife Linda used to serve as the board treasurer, said that 'some of the things he (Press) says are actually not entirely off the mark. But I think the way he says them, he gets very caught up in the emotion and the allegation for which there is very little if any substance.'

In 2022, Stein sent a note to a board member about the way his wife was being treated by then-president Breglio.

'I can’t sit idly and experience with horror the verbal abuse of Linda, by John Breglio. This simply will not do, as I’m sure you understand,' he wrote. Linda resigned as treasurer in 2021.

Sawyer and Press are asking for damages in an unspecified amount, as well as attorney fees.