Tenants Sue Nixon

NEW YORK--Residents of a Fifth Avenue luxury building sued on Wednesday to block former President Richard M. Nixon from buying an apartment, alleging the presence of the Secret Service would disrupt their "quiet lives."

The lawsuit, filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, asks that Nixon and his wife, Pat, be prevented from buying the 12-room apartment unless they get rid of the agents assigned to guard the former president.

Justice Charles S. Tierney scheduled a September 21 hearing where the Nixons must show why they should not be prevented from buying the seventh-floor condominium near Central Park and 817 Fifth Ave., for a reported price of $1 million

Leadership Training

The suit is the second cold shoulder the couple has encountered in their efforts to return to New York, where they lived before Nixon won the presidency in 1968.

Opposition

In August, Nixon withdrew a $750,000 offer for a penthouse after residents of the co-operative voiced oppostion.

Nixon is presently visiting the People's Republic of China.