Apartment Fish Farm Stinks: Suit

A Bronx landlord says the tilapia farm on the 14th floor is a violation of the lease

A Bronx man who runs a fish farm in his 14th floor apartment is being sued by his landlord in a building where neighbors claim the tanks leak and stink up their homes.

The landlord claims Christopher Toole, 47, is violating his lease at the Riverdale building by illegally breeding fish and running the Society of Aquaponic Values and Education from the home, according to the New York Post.

He has "refused to refrain" from making noises and causing odors, the lawsuit says.

"He's running a business out of his apartment," Errol Brett, the landlord for Windsor Apts. Inc., told the Post.

Neighbors say Toole is responsible for several large leaks and drags his fish farming materials across the floor through the night.

“It’s irritating because you hear noise all the time. It’s 3:30 in the morning, and you hear him dragging his aquarium or whatever it is across the floor. It has changed my life,”  resident Roch McDowell, who lives directly below Toole, told the paper.

Toole formerly worked at Morgan Stanley and served as a vice president for Sovereign Bank, according to the Post. He now teaches kids about fish farming and sells his tilapia.

He told the Post he was not aware of the suit, but said "any publicity is good publicity."

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