A frum Brooklyn man who lost $300,000 in cash and jewelry when robbers cut through the roof of Astoria Bank on 18th Avenue in Boro Park and swiped 60 safe deposit boxes (reported here on Matzav.com) is suing the bank for negligence. Reb Leiby Goldberger, 41, a contractor from Boro Park, said the bank was told that men were loitering on the roof in the days before the Feb. 22 heist.
“They were warned and they did nothing,” Reb Leiby said. “It was basically everything I ever worked for, things you couldn’t replace.”
One was a diamond bracelet his mother, who died when he was 1, left him. Another was a coin bentched by the Satmar Rov, Rav Yosel Teitelbaum zt”l.
“I was 10 years old and I kept it for my whole life and wanted to give it to my daughter when she got married,” Reb Leiby said.
The robbers, still at large, used a fake chimney to hide their blowtorch work over a few days but were spotted by a neighbor who warned the bank.
Bank officials wouldn’t comment on the lawsuit, but Reb Leiby said he isn’t the only victim.
“I know people who were totally devastated,” he said.
{Elisha Ferber-Matzav.com Newscenter/NY Daily News}
