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Landlord Allegedly Trying To Kick Out Rent-Stabilized Tenants By Claiming They're Incestuous
By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 25, 2011
Modified Sep 25, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 25, 2011
Modified Sep 25, 2011
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apartments are generally the dominion of the politically-connected, the corrupt, the elderly, and the damn lucky, no-good relatives of those elderly. And once you're in that club, it's pretty difficult to kick you out. But one landlord has allegedly come up with a novel new way to try to get some septuagenarian rent-stabilized tenants to scram: spread rumors that they're incestuous!
At least that's what 75-year-old Clara Sharma and her 71-year-old roommate-brother Charles Steene claim their landlord is doing to them. Sharma, who moved to her three-room, prewar apartment at 600 W 111th Street in 1964, told the Post she believes the landlord, R.A. Cohen & Associates, has been telling other residents that she sleeps with her brother. “It’s character assassination. I’m not that kind of person. I was never that hard up that I would tap on family,” she said.
In addition, she believes they reported the siblings to Adult Protective Services and also told neighbors she was mentally unstable. In her $50 million lawsuit filed last week, she said neighbor Alan Messmann called her “wacky” last year, and then referred to her as “an incestuous little witch.” At least no children have been thrown out of a window of a tower in Winterfell because of this alleged relationship...yet.
Tagged
apartments
game of thrones
incest
landlord
lawsuit
manhattan
rent-controlled
rent-stabilized
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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