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Joan Rivers Sued For $15 Million By Former Manhattan Neighbor

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Perhaps if Joan Rivers had said to her neighbor "can we talk?" she wouldn't be facing a $15 million lawsuit.

The comedian and condo board president is being sued for a dispute involving a former downstairs neighbor in her luxury Manhattan building.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in state Supreme Court in Manhattan.

The New York Daily News reported that former neighbor Elizabeth Hazan, 41, signed ownership of the $2 million two-bedroom unit over to Real Estate Holdings Group in July. The company contends Rivers and others ripped wires from the unit's cable box and squirted glue in its locks. It says building officials recently denied Hazan access to the East Side apartment.

Hazan has a long-running battle with Rivers over unpaid condo fees, the paper reported.

"Her problem with me is that I'm young, she's old; I'm beautiful, she's ugly," Hazan told the Daily News. "Without makeup, she looks like the Joker in Batman."

A lawyer for Rivers said he's preparing a response to the suit.

Rivers, a former late-night talk show host who now is best known for critiquing celebrities on red carpets, lives in the building's $30 million penthouse.

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