$7M Suit Filed Against Estate Of Yankee Killed in Plane Crash

A dentist whose Upper East Side condominium was destroyed last fall by a plane crash that killed Yankee pitcher Cory Lidle is seeking $7 million from the pitcher's estate.

In court papers filed Wednesday, Lawrence Rosenthal and his wife say they are emotionally scarred and will have trouble selling their apartment because it is "stigmatized."

"A lot of people don't want to move into an apartment that's been totally gutted by smoke and fire," lawyer David Jaroslawicz said, adding, "It's like after 9/11, people didn't want to be in office buildings on high floors. You don't really want something that's sort of a bad-luck charm."

Dr. Rosenthal's 43rd-floor condominium on East 72nd Street, which combined three units, is uninhabitable, Mr. Jaroslawicz said, and the dentist's family has had to buy new clothes and live in month-to-month rentals.

"Suddenly, he's a refugee," Mr. Jaroslawicz said. "It's not as bad as someone in Katrina because he does have some means."

Lidle's flight lasted 13 minutes before the plane also containing his instructor slammed into the 30th floor of the building, killing them both. Federal officials are investigating the accident.

A Florida lawyer for the Lidle estate, Robert Clarke, said he hadn't seen a copy of Dr. Rosenthal's suit. He said the estate had filed a lawsuit against the manufacturer of Lidle's Cirrus plane.

According to the New York Post's Page Six gossip column, Dr. Rosenthal's patients have included Donald Trump, Bruce Springsteen, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Joan Rivers.