My luxe NYC pad with East River views exposed me to cancer: Lawsuit

Her killer view could be the death of her.

A Murray Hill actress and skin-cancer survivor claims the massive, floor-to-ceiling windows in her $6.2 million luxury apartment overlooking the East River exposed her to so much ultraviolet radiation she developed lesions on her face.

“I am in this surreal situation where I unknowingly basically sat in a potentially lethal UV bath almost every day, during peak sun hours, thinking I was safe, for several YEARS,” Jennifer Betit Yen wrote in an April blog post about her battle with the owners and developers of 685 First Ave., a 43-story skyscraper near East 40th Street.

Yen, 48, and lawyer and film producer husband J. Peyton Worley, 46, snagged the swanky 2,984-square-foot four bedroom, 4.5 bath home in November 2021 — where “every single external wall is floor to ceiling glass window,” the couple said in a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.

They’re seeking $8 million in damages.

Yen, who hosts the series “Film Lab Presents” and has had roles in “Royal Pains” and other TV shows, said she repeatedly questioned the building’s reps about whether the home had protection from ultra violet radiation, especially because Yen had previously battled melanoma.

Reps for developer Soloviev Building Co. and the building’s board of managers repeatedly told the couple the unit “had 100% UV protection,” the couple claimed.

But the assurances turned out to be “a complete and utter fabrication” they said in the litigation.

After 2.5 years, “suspicious lesions” were found on the side of Yen’s face which was most exposed to the glass wall window in her home office, she said in the legal filing.

Yen described herself on her web site as an “actor, writer and recovering attorney.”

The pair also noticed “discoloration and fading of their carpets, artwork and furnishings, which could not have occurred but for UV radiation,” according to the lawsuit.

Testing revealed “significant UV radiation intruding to the unit from at least four separate sliding glass, floor to ceiling wall panels and two separate terrace doors,” including the living room, family room and home office, the couple contended in the litigation.

“Approximately 1/3 of the glass in the study where I work every day – sitting directly in the sun, thinking I was safe – showed significant UV exposure and no protection,” Yen wrote in the blog. “This is akin to telling someone with fair skin to go sit on a sunny beach and that they’ll be safe with this sunscreen but, instead of giving them sunscreen, you give them a bottle of baby oil.”  

Though the recent lesions tested negative for cancer, melanoma survivors have an increased risk of recurrence, she said.

“I may not know the real impact for a long time,” Yen wrote on her blog, adding, “Had I known the truth, I could and would have protected myself!  I would have done the same thing as I had done for my previous home and had solar film installed.”

The couple should have tested for UV radiation before closing on the apartment, lawyers for the Soloviev Group told The Post.

“If it was such an important issue they should have inspected it to their satisfaction,” said attorney Alex Estis, who added Yen and Worley “bought a very cheap [UV testing] device from Amazon and said there was a problem. They should have made that test pre-closing and verified.” 

The lawsuit is “frivolous,” said Michael Hershman, CEO OF Soloviev Group.

“An independent expert tested the window and found that the protection conforms to standards.  We will strongly contest the allegations which are without merit,” Hershman added.