Norah Jones threatened with lawsuit over home renovations

Singer Norah Jones is threatened with a lawsuit by her neighbours over renovations in her New York City home.

The 30-year-old daughter of Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar, Jones purchased the landmark brownstone in the Cobble Hill district in January (09) for £3.1 million.

The building is given legal protection from alteration and destruction because of its 19th-century, Greek revival architecture.

However, the contractors are believed to have secretly got city approval last month to add 10 double-hung windows to the building's side brick wall to allow more light into Jones' apartment.

Cobble Hill Association members have now accused the Grammy winner singer of using her celebrity status to influence officials.

Association president Roy Sloane has threatened to attempt to block construction by filing a lawsuit claiming it is a safety hazard, insisting the wall's foundation is weak and can't support window additions.

"I'm sure her status certainly helped, and at the very least, it allowed her to hire the best of the best to find legal loopholes," the Daily Star quoted him as telling the New York Post.

But Jones, who has yet to move in, is not backing down. In an email to Sloane, she writes, "With respect to the Cobble Hill Association, my windows went through the approvals process with Landmarks," insisting the windows are not 'out of character' with the neighbourhood.