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Dominique Strauss-Kahn Nearly Homeless After UES Building Kicks Out His Wife
By
Jen Chung
Published May 20, 2011
Modified May 20, 2011
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By
Jen Chung
Published May 20, 2011
Modified May 20, 2011
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Alleged sex attacker and former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn was almost adrift, because even though he made $1 million cash bail, his wife was kicked out of the Upper East Side apartment she rented for him. NBC New York, which broadcast from outside the Bristol Plaza (210 East 65th Street) last night, now says, "A source familiar with the case says defense attorneys are now seeking to place the French politician in a corporate apartment used by the private security firm that will be guarding him when he is released." (A judge just approved his release!)
The Post reports, "[Strauss-Kahn's wife] Anne Sinclair had rented an apartment at the luxurious Bristol Plaza on East 65th Street, but she was turned away once it was discovered that Strauss-Kahn would be staying there, the sources said." While a leasing agent claims Sinclair didn't rent the apartment, let's face it—the media frenzy outside the building seems like a nightmare.
When Strauss-Kahn finally leaves Rikers, he'll be subject to electronic monitoring and be watched by security. Apparently Strauss-Kahn is also required to pay for the $200,000/month security (the Post explains the "gun-toting guards... are permitted to use force if he tries to escape"). The Manhattan DA's office had opposed bail, pointing out, "The proposition that $1 million is too high a price to pay for his freedom is not convincing. This defendant is a citizen of France, a country that by law does not extradite its own nationals. He has the stature and the resources not to be a fugitive on the run but to really live in ease and comfort in parts of the world that are beyond this court and its jurisdiction."
The alleged victim, a 32-year-old maid at the Sofitel in Times Square, testified in front of a grand jury over two days and, earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal says she returned to Strauss-Kahn's suite, "where she showed [investigators] two places in the multiroom suite where she recalled spitting after what prosecutors say was Mr. Strauss-Kahn's effort to force her into oral sex, according to a law-enforcement official familiar with the situation." Her lawyer has denied allegations that she made up the story and is setting up Strauss-Kahn, a leading French politician.
In the meantime, the IMF has announced a $250,000 severance package for Strauss-Kahn—that works out to about one month and a week of security guards!
Tagged
bail
dominique strauss-kahn
imf
sofitel
upper east side
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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