My Lawyer Just Stopped Doing What I Hired Him To Do For House Closing, What Now? [ny]

Location: NY state. Relevant info: In NY, attorneys have to do house closings, you can't do them with an agent.

I bought a house over the winter and as part of the closing, I had $15,000 set aside in escrow until I could see the pool and ensure it was in good condition. I closed in January but wasn't able to open the pool until May. I hired a law practice that a family member recommended, and I was assigned an attorney - I didn't know this guy.

When the pool opened, I found the light bulb was broken and quoted up to $900 to fix, depending on what's wrong with it. I went to my attorney and told him that, he emailed the seller's attorney, and they responded indicating the seller was surprised the light bulb is broken as she had just had it fixed last year. My lawyer freaked out on me and said "this is now negotiation" and I didn't pay him to cover negotiations. He said he would not continue to work on this unless I paid him $400. He wrote the other attorney and told them we are in dispute and they can't touch the escrow.

I tried to talk to the lawyer, but this guy who was so nice during my closing and turned into an asshole and refused to talk to me. He wouldn't even exchange pleasantries like "hi, how are you" - he did not want to talk to me unless I paid him more money. (From my POV, I paid him to do my closing and this is part of my closing, and he never indicated anything about the pool escrow wouldn't be included.) This law firm is closing and merging with another law firm, so I don't think they have any lawyers left I could ask them to move my case to.

After a few weeks passed, I got an email from his paralegal saying the seller responded and the seller agrees to pay for the pool light to be fixed up to $600 and would I accept. I said yes to this compromise - I said let me know if we will just remove the flat amount from the escrow, or if I need to get it fixed and then send a receipt. That was three weeks ago. Twice I've emailed asking if my attorney sent this response to their attorney, and I am being ghosted.

I think my attorney is simply not responding to the email from the seller's attorney, and is flat-out refusing to respond unless I pay him. I am not paying this asshole. What do I do? This matter could easily be closed but my attorney refuses. I don't know how this works, but I'm scared the seller could go after me for not responding and releasing the escrow.