The Dakota apartment building yesterday filed a 237-page response in New York State Supreme Court that denied charges of racial discrimination by a former president of its co-op board and claimed that he "simply lacked the wealth he claimed," according to an article in today's edition of The New York Times by Chrstine Haughney and Peter Lattman.

The former president, Alphonse Fletcher Jr., who still lives at the Dakota, sued its board this month, claiming he had been denied permission to buy an apartment next door because he was black and because another board member wanted the apartment sold in a package deal with her own.

Mr. Fletcher also accused the board of discriminating against other residents or applicants, the article continued, "including the acting couple Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas, and the singer Roberta Flack, who, Mr. Fletcher said, had been forced to use the service elevator when walking her dogs while white residents were allowed to take their dogs into the main elevator."

"The response was noteworthy," the article said, "in that it is rare for any co-op board, let alone a famous one, to disclose internal matters. Although Mr. Fletcher is a well-known investor, the board, citing tax returns, bank records and other documents that he submitted when applying to buy the $5.7 million apartment, called his statement of net worth 'highly unrealistic.'"

The article also said that the building maintained that "the money Mr. Fletcher claimed to manage was 'greatly inflated' because his firm, Fletcher Asset Management, double-counted its assets, which Mr. Fletcher said was $429 million, according to the court filing. And because the firm reported a cumulative net loss from 2007 to 2009, the Dakota's finance committee called the value that Mr. Fletcher put on his business 'not credible.'"

"Mr. Fletcher's annual mortgage payments - he also owns two smaller units at the Dakota, at 1 West 72nd Street and bought his mother an apartment there in 2001 - are about $1.5 million," the article said, "yet his tax returns show his annual income is far less, the papers said. In 2008, Mr. Fletcher reported an adjusted gross income of $674,000. The board also was concerned that Mr. Fletcher supplied information through an accounting firm that appeared to be independent but was actually run by one of his employees. The response questioned whether Mr. Fletcher could afford another apartment when his total annual maintenance cost would rise to $228,873 and renovations would cost $1 million to $2 million."

Bruce Barnes, the current board president, said in court papers that "there was absolutely no discussion of or concern about plaintiff's race; he is a longtime neighbor, was repeatedly approved for apartment purchases in earlier years, has been elected to the board eight times, and has twice been elected by the board as its president," adding that approving the purchase would expose the Dakota to 'unacceptable financial risk.'"

The article said that a spokeswoman for Mr. Fletcher said: "The defendant's latest filing predictably attempts to shift attention away from the lengthy and detailed narrative in Mr. Fletcher's complaint of unlawful self-dealing, improper discrimination and inappropriate retaliation that lies at the core of this case. There can be no legitimate question that Mr. Fletcher was more than qualified to make the all-cash purchase of the apartment next to his own at the Dakota."