Lawsuit: Upper West Side Condo Board Claims Pot-Smoking Tenants Stinking Up Building

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Talk about living the high life.

Josefina Berman and her son, Charlie, live in unit 1S at 400 Central Park West on the Upper West Side, and according to the condo board, they like to smoke weed -- a lot, 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reported.

The first-floor residents have been fined 20 times for marijuana smoke over recent years, but the board is now suing them for $10,000 and an additional $12,000 in unpaid common charges, according to the New York Post.

The board claims the tenants are stinking up the lobby and other parts of the building with the identifiable odor. According to the Post, smoking is allowed in the building in individuals units, but residents must make sure the odor doesn't escape the apartment.

"Constant nuisance, all hours of the day, comes through the vents. I think the guy is just sitting in there burning all day and all night," a neighbor told CBS2's Mark Morgan.

Robert, who lives on the same floor, said it doesn't bother him.

"I'm used to it, when I was younger I occasionally did smoke marijuana," Robert said. "It made me jealous, the other people may be jealous. They're getting high and these people are not."

But another tenant said it's a problem.

"I definitely have smelled it," tenant said. "The community should be able to live in a friendly and healthy environment and not have conditions that are not conducive to that."

Other residents vented their frustrations about the constant haze, which they called unbearable.

"It's like all the time. Most of the time we have policemen coming in," Ilse Simon said.

Dorothy Shi has lived in the building for over 30 years. She's concerned for the young children who live there.

"It's kinda hard for the parents to feel like the minute you walked in, that's the first thing to come up to your face. And how do you explain that?" she said.

CBS2 asked to speak with members of the Co-Op board and building management, but was told those individuals would not answer questions about the suit.

Residents said they are hoping the suit will bring them some relief.

The Bermans could not be reached for comment.