MY FORMER RENT CONTROLLED APARTMENT IN NYC

     This large 3-room apartment had 12 foot ceilings, was on the ground floor in a small building on West End Avenue with 12 floors and 50 apartments.

It was only a block from the subway and the crosstown bus was right outside the front door.

     I had the place for 40 years before being “railroaded” out in Housing Court. Why? Because the judge noticed I had a library card in Westport,CT. That’s where my wife and I had our weekend cottage.

     Stanley Stahl owned the apartment building. He was a narcissist, yet refused to allow anyone to take his photograph. He also had an office on Park Avenue and always sat in the dark. A very strange man indeed!

     In the 60’s our apartment rent was $100 a  month. In the 70’s it was $200. In the 80’s $300 and the 90’s it jumped to $600. Stahl wanted the apartment so he could rent at market value, $3,000 . He offered me $5,000 to leave. I wanted $50,000. He refused and hired a goon to bully me

     Mark was a good looking guy from Florida who moved to NYC and was in

need  of an apartment.  I wanted a roommate to share the rent and spotted his ad in the Village Voice. We met and  I let him move in. Little did I know that he had also contacted Stahl and propose to bully me out. Then he could bring his girl friend from Miami and save money on the rent.

     I only stayed in the apartment several nights a week. Mark was an artist and was making connections among the galleries for his paintings. One night I returned to the apartment and Mark had changed the locks! What a bummer that was. I called a llocksmith and changed the locks. I also moved all of Mark’s belongings into an alcove in the lobby. And I went to see “Air Force One” with Harrison Ford, a great movie.

     When I returned to the apartment, Mark and his girl friend from Florida, Susan, were in the lobby. She was crying. He was angry. I was furious. We argued about his changing the locks. The doorman called the police and an officer arrived. He advised me to let Mark and Susan stay in the apartment if they promised not to change the locks. They promised not to.

     Meantime, I was summoned to Housing Court by the building owner, Stanley Stahl. His lawyer claimed I had sublet my apartment, rather than take in a roommate. And there were two  witnesses to corroborate: the doorman and Mark. I had 30 days to pack up and move out. Mark and Susan would stay in the apartment.

     I left without looking back. After all, four decades is somewhat of a record for living in New York City, especially Manhattan. But then I did get the shaft and thought about some sort of revenge. Mark and Susan made a deal with Stahl to rent my apartment for half the market value ($l,500) if he testified in court against me. I believe it’s called perjury.

     A blog in the works will explain what happened several months later.