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A seemingly entitled poker player is taking living the high life a little too literally.
Alleged pot-head Chau Shing Lam has been smoking cigarettes and weed at all hours of the day and night, and burning up his Kips Bay neighbors’ patience, according to an explosive new Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.
Property records show Lam paid $4.15 million in August 2022 for a condominium unit in the luxury Kips Bay building — which has always had a clear non-smoking policy.
Hoping to finally nip his “near-daily” weed habit in the bud, the board at the luxury 368 Third Ave. condominium — where a penthouse is currently listed for $8.7 million — is suing the high-flying resident who let $87,000 in fines go straight up in smoke, court records obtained by The Post show.
Lam is an avid poker player who has competed in international tournaments in Monte Carlo, Paris, Barcelona, earning hundreds of thousands of dollars in winnings.
He has allegedly been lighting up pot and tobacco at all hours and sending “noxious smoke” wafting through hallways and into neighboring homes.
The secondhand fumes are seeping into the bedroom of a 12-year-old child battling a severe respiratory condition, the suit claims.
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The kid in unit 31A, “has been diagnosed with reactive airway dysfunction syndrome, a serious respiratory condition that is directly exacerbated by exposure to secondhand smoke,” court documents state. The child’s father is a practicing physician.
“In the last month, objective air quality monitoring has consistently documented PM2.5 (fine particulate matter 2.5 micrometers or smaller in diameter) in the neighboring unit at dangerous levels, including levels classified by the [US Environmental Protection Agency] as “Unhealthy” for all persons and extremely dangerous for a child with this condition,” per July 17 court records.
That is the same classification used during extreme wildfire events, like the orange haze that blanketed the East Coast from Canadian wildfires, and breathing that air is the equivalent of smoking about seven to 10 cigarettes.
The suit comes as the family with the sick child “will be permanently moving into the adjacent unit the week of July 20, 2026,” public records show.
The lawsuit asks a judge to declare Lam, who didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment, in breach of building rules.
The neighbors above and below Lam, who also goes by the name Andrew Lam, allegedly reported smoke odor made its way into their homes.
To make matters worse, Lam allegedly throws late-night ragers complete with “loud banging, running around, and yelling.” And, there is “loud, incessant dog barking” coming from his unit, per court documents.
Despite neighbor complaints, 16 board violation letters over a roughly two-year period, “escalating fines,” suspension of amenity privileges, and staff attempting to speak to Lam about the issues, the stubborn smoker refused to change his ways.
In total, Lam’s habit has run up an eye-watering $87,250 in penalties, which were applied to his monthly common charges statements.
In 2024, the board levied various fines against him for smoke and dog barking complaints, and stripped him of “non-essential services.” He was also prohibited from using the building’s amenities including the laundry room, gym, common roof terrace, residents’ storage rooms, the media room and party room and bike storage room for long periods.
Guests, delivery workers, and service people were strictly barred past the concierge desk unless Lam personally escorted them. Doormen were forbidden from calling up to announce arrivals or holding packages other than standard US mail, while all routine unit repairs — except for building emergencies — were flat-out suspended.
By late 2025 and early 2026, the fines surged as the complaints kept rolling in.
Over the course of nearly two years, he racked up more amenities bans, and well over $75,000 in fines and penalties.
Board attorneys called Lam’s behavior “egregious and unacceptable,” and an “inexcusable and unrelenting pattern of willful misconduct.”
“Hi, can you please stop making these non sense [sic], I’ve been smoking here the past two year [sic] and the building knows and didn’t say anything about it, and more people smoke in the buildings,” Lam wrote back to the board in an email on June 16, per court documents.
“And after I talk to my neighbor I tried to stop and after our last conversation on the 10th I haven’t even smoke in the apartment, I have weed kept and carried, but that totally fine it my right to do that. So please stop.”
Lam is known to the building staff (and is in the building system) as Andrew Lam, concierge attendant Michael Bonilla told The Post. Lam was not home when The Post paid a visit Wednesday afternoon.
Bonilla told The Post he is currently in Asia. Footage of Lam at a poker tournament earlier this month in South Korea saw organizers refer to him as both Chau Shing Lam and Andrew.
Bonilla, who works at the building from 11 pm to 7 am, says he personally has had no gripes about Lam, and his access to building services and amenities have since been restored.
On Monday the court issued a temporary restraining order pending the hearing of the motion, which means Lam is court-ordered to cease lighting up in his apartment, on the balcony or in the building’s common areas — at least for now.
“The Board made repeated good-faith efforts to resolve this matter without resorting to litigation, but after exhausting every available avenue, we were left with no choice but to bring this action to enjoin the unit owner’s ongoing misconduct and protect the interests of the condominium community,” the board’s attorney, Jake Bedor, a partner in Fox Rothschild, said in an emailed statement to The Post.
Victor Kamara, senior property manager at FirstService Residential, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Completed in 2021, Vu condo has 100 units and rises 36 stories. Building amenities include kitchen and pantry for entertaining, a residents’ lounge, a screening room, a fitness center, a quiet studio and a rooftop terrace.
