Manhattan Gallery Loses Bid for COVID-19 Business Interruption Coverage

NEW YORK — A Manhattan fine arts gallery is not entitled to coverage from Sentinel Insurance Co. for COVID-19-related business losses because it did not allege “direct physical loss of or damage to” its property as required by the policy, a New York federal judge has ruled.

In a Dec. 15 order, Judge Lorna Schofield of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York concluded that 1102 Holdings Inc. d/b/a Guy Hepner may have had limited use of its gallery when it closed in compliance with government closure orders, but it did not sustain a loss of …