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For $100/Month LIC Apartment, 62-Year-Old Lady Got Adopted By 85-Year-Old Star Trek Fan
By
Jen Chung
Published May 6, 2013
Modified May 6, 2013
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By
Jen Chung
Published May 6, 2013
Modified May 6, 2013
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If a polo tycoon can't adopt his girlfriend to protect his fortune, should a 62-year-old woman be allowed to keep a $100/month Long Island City rent-stabilized apartment because she was adopted by its previous tenant... who was an 85-year-old senile Star Trek fan?
According to the Post, "Pamela Becker grew up in a privileged family — her actual father, the late Ralph Becker, was US ambassador to Honduras during the Ford administration —" but "A cat-sitting gig brought her to a six-unit apartment building on 47th Road." She befriended Nicholas “Uncle Nicky” DeTommaso (a retired cook and "a gregarious 'Star Trek' fan") and moved into his apartment, soon getting cars from DeTommaso as well as other privileges from him:
DeTomasso was ailing with dementia and possibly prostate cancer, according to a 2006 doctor’s note. Becker managed to get a power of attorney for DeTommaso in 2007, meaning she could make financial and legal decisions for him.
Less than a month before DeTommaso died, Becker got the big prize: a new dad with deep pockets and piddling rent. Her adoption was formalized on June 23, 2009, and she had already become the beneficiary of his life insurance and pension, records show.
Becker, whose brother is the mayor of Salt Lake City (he says they've been estranged for a very long time), insists that DeTomasso was of sound mind and says she took good care of him. And she's going to fight a NY State Division of Housing and Community Renewal decision that found she was not entitled to the apartment because she only lived there as a family member for 22 days before her "dad" died. (It seems that relatives must "simultaneously [reside] in the apartment as their primary residence" for a two-year period.) Becker said, "I’m legally adopted. I’m going to win this battle."
However, if Becker loses, the apartment could be rented out at $1,500/month.
Tagged
adoption
long island city
pamela becker
queens
real estate
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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