(05-16-2007) Report: Neighbors' smoke upsets Bono - CNN*

[HelloAngel]

Report: Neighbors' smoke upsets Bono


NEW YORK (AP) -- Bono is grappling with a new version of the unforgettable fire, and it has nothing to do with his band's 1984 album. The rocker-activist is embroiled in a flap over fireplaces at his Manhattan apartment building, a newspaper has reported.

The U2 frontman has told co-op board members at the stately San Remo that smoke from other residents' fireplaces is wafting into the penthouse duplex he shares with his family, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

The building's fireplaces have long-standing problems, said Leni May, the wife of board member Peter May.

"Bono was so nice," she said. "He said, 'Listen, whatever I can do to get these things working, but it's emptying into my apartment and I can't have smoke like that."' The singer told the board that one of his four children has asthma, Leni May said.

Principle Management, the company that manages U2, said the singer was raising a safety concern, not a personal peeve.

"This is not a Bono issue," a Principle Management representative said. "It's a building issue. It's about health and safety regulations."

The 1930 building on Central Park West has had several other celebrity residents, including actor Dustin Hoffman and actress Diane Keaton. The building's board famously said no to Madonna when she tried to buy an apartment there in 1985.

Bono bought his apartment from Apple CEO Steve Jobs, said the listing broker, Roger Erickson, a senior managing director at Sothebys International Realty.

Bono, whose real name is Paul Hewson, and his wife, Ali Hewson, also have homes in Dublin, Ireland, and in the south of France.

The singer, 47, has become prominent in politics as well as rock. He was in Germany this week to push for more aid to Africa from the world's biggest industrial countries.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Music/05/16/bono.fire.ap/index.html

 

[biff]

Here's a much more comprehensive report, from The New York Times:


Among the Rich, a New Dispute Over Air Rights

New York Times, May 16, 2007

Allen Salkin


It's not the war against third world debt, but still.

Bono, the lead singer of U2 and a globetrotting activist for social causes, has become involved in a battle that may be as intractable as loan burdens in the developing world — a Manhattan co-op dispute.

One of his adversaries is a fellow rocker, Billy Squier, best known for 1980s songs like "The Stroke." The two live in the San Remo, a storied building with twin towers that loom over Central Park West. (It is the same building that rejected Madonna in 1985 when she sought to buy an apartment.)

The dispute is over whether hazardous smoke from fireplaces, including Mr. Squier's, is drifting from chimneys into the penthouse duplex where Bono lives with his wife and four children. About a year ago the co-op board banned the use of fireplaces throughout the building, angering fireplace owners, who love a pine-scented blaze in the city as well as their enhanced property values.

As with other co-op disputes, exact details are hard to pin down because these buildings are essentially private clubs run by a board of elected tenants, and anyone who airs grievances in public risks being ostracized in his own hallway, sometimes for generations. The San Remo, at West 74th Street, is home to many prominent New Yorkers, including Steve Martin, Steven Spielberg, the producers Scott Rudin and James L. Nederlander, and the writers Andrew Tobias and Marshall Brickman.

Interviews with more than a dozen residents and with associates of Bono and Mr. Squier present a consistent picture of events in a place where even the most privileged property owners cannot escape the concerns of neighbors.

The dispute started, residents say, when Bono bought his penthouse in the building's north tower in April 2003 from Steve Jobs, a founder of Apple Computer, for around the $14.5 million asking price. Mr. Jobs had spent millions on renovations, including adding a residential floor, said the listing broker, Roger Erickson, now a senior managing director at Sotheby's International Realty. Mr. Jobs never spent a night in the apartment, Mr. Erickson said.

At some point after moving in, Bono (who was born Paul Hewson) and his wife, Ali Hewson, who also own homes in Dublin and the south of France, noticed smoke drifting toward their apartment from chimneys in the roof, according to residents in the building familiar with the situation.

The Hewsons approached the co-op board about the smoke and related chimney problems. "Bono was so nice," said Leni May, whose husband, Peter May, is a member of the board. "He said, ‘Listen, whatever I can do to get these things working, but it's emptying into my apartment and I can't have smoke like that.' " One of the Hewsons' children has asthma, he told the board, Ms. May said. The couple have two daughters, 18 and 15, and two sons, 7 and 5.

Other residents had complained about smoke entering their apartments through faulty flues in the 1930 building. The board banned the use of fireplaces while the problems were studied.

Soon, hackles went up, notably those of Mr. Squier, whose apartment on the third floor includes a fireplace, and Mark Gordon, another resident with a fireplace.

Only about 40 of the building's roughly 135 apartments have fireplaces, said Phyliss Koch, a real estate broker who has lived in the San Remo for 29 years and has been the listing agent in many sales there. Renovations over the years may have caused chimney ventilation problems, she added. Mr. Gordon sent at least one flier through the building seeking to raise awareness about the fireplace issue, residents said.

The fireplace owners' position was that the Hewsons had complained when they saw the smoke coming toward their penthouse, not because they had evidence that harmful pollution was entering their living quarters, said a longtime friend and tour manager of Mr. Squier's.

"It was just assumed that because they could see the exhaust, that would present a problem to their children," the tour manager said, adding that Mr. Squier, whose last hit was "Rock Me Tonight" in 1984, had discussed the issue in detail with him. (Mr. Squier did not respond to messages left with an assistant seeking comment.)

Mr. Gordon declined to comment, beyond saying: "I don't want to see this in the press in any way whatsoever. It could only be more damaging to the situation. The situation is a delicate and private one."

The fireplace complaint is not a case of a prima donna pop star making unreasonable demands, said a representative from Principle Management, the company that manages Bono's band, U2.

"This is not a Bono issue," the representative said. "It's a building issue. It's about health and safety regulations." Neither Bono, who was in Germany this week to press the Group of 8 nations for more African aid, nor his wife would comment, the representative said.

Meanwhile, the news from experts brought in by the San Remo to examine the fireplaces has not been good. "Apparently, the mistakes were made before any of us moved into the San Remo," said Ms. May, who is chairwoman of the Jewish Museum in Manhattan. "It's to the point where we're not to code and we can't fix it. It's not fixable."

Other residents said the problem is that the building chimneys end at a height that is hazardously close to the Hewsons' tower duplex, and that emissions tests have confirmed unsafe levels of smoke. Making the chimneys taller would be expensive and present an eyesore that might run afoul of the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission, the residents said.

One resident, Mitch Miller, the host of the 1960s television program "Sing Along with Mitch," had little sympathy for the log-lighting set. "If people want fireplaces, let them go live in the country," said Mr. Miller, who is 95.

Many residents appear to be choosing to let the most passionate ones fight this battle, and saving their energy for other struggles. Mr. Brickman, a co-writer of the movie "Annie Hall" and of the Broadway hit "Jersey Boys," worked the dispute for comedy. After trying out a few fireplace jokes during a telephone interview, the longtime San Remo resident tinkered with his material and called back. "People who continue to roast meat in their fireplaces," he said, "should be required to move to the East Side," adding, "Other than that I have no position."

The San Remo had its annual shareholders meeting May 8. The fireplace issue was raised, but no resolutions were passed, said building residents who attended.

"People were fighting about other things — pets, this and that," one longtime resident said.

With the fireplace season over, the dispute seems to have quieted, at least until next winter.

"I'm putting all my effort into trying to make sure the Democrats widen our lead in the Congress and win back the White House," said Andrew Tobias, a financial writer and San Remo resident who is also treasurer of the Democratic National Committee. "So the fireplace controversy is not high on my list." He paused. "But if I had a fireplace, it would be high on my list."


Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

 

[AngelofHarlem01]

Thanks for posting this. Very interesting article

 

[kimby]

Mitch Miller is still Alive!!!!Showing my age, eh?

 

[bratty_cat]

Maybe they should just convert them to gas-burning which would help keep the air cleaner for everyone?

Billy Squier

 

[forbonou2]

That was so wierd, as I was reading this story...B S "The Stroke" just came on! Whew....eerie! Anyway, i cant' imagine trying to live with That! Ugh!! I hope this gets resolved, soon!

 

[ArrogantU2Fan]

I totally agree with the gas burning fireplaces Susan

 

[Carek1230]

Smoke can't certainly be good for the singer's voice or for anyone with asthma, child or adult. I'm sure this will be resolved and without it turning into a big brawl that hits the airwaves and gossip mills.

 

[bugo]

This is so not news...

 

[Teta040]

It should be "not news." But in keeping with the continually deteriorating standards of the New York Times (there has been much controversy over the past 2 yrs about the mild "tabloidization" of the Arts Page, at least tabloid by NYT standards) from what it used to be. More coverage of entertainment strictly from an entertainment POV--more about celebrities, weekly box office, etc. The residents of San Remo didn't want this to hit the media and bingo, here it is. If Bono is in it, a story will be all over the planet by sundown, if not hours. Watch for cries of "hypocrite" and "pampered rock star" etc to hit the fan the next few days.

IMO, though, I don't think Bono is indulging in pampered rock star behavior. He's been living in that place this whole decade and never complained. It must be serious if he is.He's not exactly known for prima donna behavior, and he has been megarich for 15+ yrs and never done any of it. He'd never make up a story to get sympathy. I'm just shocked to find out that one of the kids has asthma. Though that's a problem easily dealt with. I hope, too, this would make B think aobut his OWN puffs on the ciggies.....

 

[EdgeIsTooSexy]

bono is a nice guy. and hes not a pampered rock star who goes around trashing hotel rooms *cough axl rose*
some people unfortuantely dont know that.
has bono actually been in nyc recently?

 

[Sue DeNym]

As lovely as a log fire is, fireplaces can be very dangerous. Let us not forget what happened to Weird Al Yankovic's parents...

Gas or electric fireplaces are safer, but all fireplaces should be kept clean and maintained regardless.

 

[kellyahern]

Let us not forget what happened to Weird Al Yankovic's parents...

That was so sad . I knew it was carbon monoxide poisoning, but I didn't know it was caused by a fireplace.

 

[JCOSTER]

bono is a nice guy. and hes not a pampered rock star who goes around trashing hotel rooms *cough axl rose*
some people unfortuantely dont know that.
has bono actually been in nyc recently?

The last time he was in the city I think was at the Tribeca Film Festival.