Built as a four-story building with four residential units.
1920's
May or may not be Al Capone's mansion.
1993
I move in to room 2A on the 3rd floor, rented under Randy, the master tenant of the floor.
At this time the building is owned by Louise Pfister. She rented each floor, in its entirely, to one party, who would then rent out the individual rooms to other people (like me).
Each floor has a kitchen and a bathroom (the second floor had an extra toilet in a closet) and four or five bedrooms. The renters of each of these rooms shared the kitchen and bathroom on their floor.
Some of these rooms are adjacent to the kitchen, forming a "suite" behind a door separating the space from the common hallway. The others have doors to the hall, and residents must walk down the common hallway to get to the kitchen and bathroom i n the suite.
The ground floor is a commercial space, Tropical Travel Agency.
June 1994
I host an epic "50th Anniversary of D-Day" party. Two people who meet there will get married and have kids.
1996
Randy wants to move out, but his lease states that if he moves out, all the tenants who renting under him would have to move out also. So I receive a court order to be out in three months.
1997
At the start of the year, the building is sold to Efrain Gerena of Port Rich Realty, Inc. who contracts Al Hatem of PAMCO as Landlord's Agent. It is decided to let the sub-tenants of the 3rd floor stay, although the master tenant is moving out.
I moved to room 2D.
Sandra, a sub-tenant under Randy, claimed master tenancy of the 3rd floor. She never paid her rent and was finally evicted 12 months later.
1998
Upon the eviction of Sandra, Al Hatem said to me "No more master tenants" when I tried to claim it after Sandra. From that point on, the tenants of each individual room paid their rent directly to PAMCO.
1999
Ilsa moved into room 2B. She will later also start renting room 2C.
Ca. 2002
PAMCO no longer Landlord's Agent.
Ca. 2005
Cut-aways carved into rooms 2A and 3A allowing access to fire escape from kitchens.
Angie Deli-Grocery opens on the first floor, in the space formerly occupied by Tropical Travel.
Ca. 2017
The door to room 2A is replaced with a smaller door. The plastering around the new door is never painted over.
Jan 25th, 2017
The landlord sent a letter asking for back rent with a ridiculous number and claiming that anotehr person in the ebuilding was master tenant of my floor.
I was behind in my rent, but was now in a public assistance program, looking for a new job, and ultimately had my rent all paid up in a matter of months.
July 3, 2017
Port Rich Realty files application to determine whether the building is exempt from Emergency Tenant Protection Act or Rent Stabilization Law, based on 1988 Certificate of Occupancy that stated that there were four apartments, a store and a garage.
2018
New York State Department of Housing and Community Renewal investigates the residential status of the building.
Feb 12, 2018
DHCR investigates, and finds that the building was built before 1974, is being operated as a Single Room Occupancy dwelling with at least ten units. They also find that it was built before 1974. These facts define it as being subject to rent stabilization code.
March 22, 2018
Port Rich Realty hires an engineer/attorney and files a Petition for Administrative Review (Docket # FS210015AD), claiming it is not an SRO. The tenants reply to the appeal, denying the claims made by the engineer/attorney.
August, 2018
Antonio Cook of Urban Properties is Building Manager. Fires superintendent Luis, brings in his man, Jaime Feliciano.
August-November, 2018
After a storm, gas service is cut off. Repeated calls to Antonio Cook are met with instructions to call 311, Keyspan/National Grid (the gas company,) and Hallen (contractor to gas company).
October 20108
Former superintendent is Luis moved from 1C on the 2nd floor to room 2A on the 3rd floor. senior citizen "Peachy," (of some relation to Efrain Gerena) is moved from 1A to 2E. This consolidated all the single-room tenants on the 2nd and 3rd floors onto one floor.
October-November, 2018
Construction work is being done on the second floor. Door to room 1D removed and replaced with a wall. Door between 1C and 1D installed. Kitchen and bathroom gutted, all appliances and furniture removed. Cabinets that may have been original to the building removed. New flooring, appliances, and cabinets installed.
This work was done without permits and no notice given to the residents of the building. Attempts to inquire were met with insults and profanity.
November 5, 2018
Antonio Cook sends a text message with a picture of a broken-through lock on a door, saying to watch out, because things are getting dangerous, and implying that we may have been involved.
November 15, 2018
Gas service restored to the building. Antonio Hernan Cook mis-represents himself on camera, and threatens to no turn on the gas.
2019
Antonio Cook's insurance man moves into the 2nd floor, which has been converted from single-room occupancy into a full apartment without the filing of appropriate permits and certificates.
Antonio Cook tries to raise the rent on everyone by an amount higher than is allowed by rent stabilization law. He claims that this is to make up for years in which the rent had not been raised. I inform him that this is not how the law works and continue to pay the same rent.
The final appeal by Port Rich Realty to DHCR is denied. The building remains classified as Single-Room Occupancy and rent stabilized.
Antonio Cook begins to claim rules about SROs state that a tenant cannot have two rooms, saying that Ilsa must give up one of her rooms. When asked to cite the specific rule, he replies, "Google it." (there is no such rule. In fact, the definition of an SRO includes the phrase "one or two rooms."
Room numbers are painted on some of the doors, mis-identifying the rooms.
On the 3rd floor, the door to the suite is labeled 2A, 2D is labeled 2B, and 2E is labeled 2C.
On the 4th floor, the door to the suite is labeled 3A, while 3B, 3C, and 3D are labeled correctly.
Several times Antonio Cook claims that the tenants owe back rent. Each month claimed turns out to either be a month in which the check was sent but not cashed or the rent was paid and Antonio Cook is simply wrong. In my case, I cancel the uncashed checks and send replacements and inform him which months those were.
April 14, 2019
The mailbox is removed from the wall in the building vestibule. It is place, a mailslot leading to an open box is installed inside the fence/gate. The box blocks the doorbell/intercom, which has not worked for years anyway.
June 20, 2019, Thursday
Antonio Hernan Cook sends a text message to myself, Ilsa, and two other tenants, annoncing that the rent will now be $750 per room (my rent at the time was $600). I let him know that such an increase was against rent stabilization guidelines. He replied that it was to make up for all the years the rent had not been raised. I informed him that it doesn;t work that way, and never paid the increased rent.
He continued to cash my checks although he would say that I had failed to payu the rent from time to time.
June 28, 2019
Antonio Hernan Cook harasses Ilsa in the building by physically blocking her way down the stairs. She calls the police who accept his answer that he was only there to deliver letters of rent increase
July 3 2019
HPD 's emergency services contacts us and informs us that the door needs to be solf-closing
July 8, 2018.
Antonio Cook texts Ilsa that he has pictures of a guest of hers, a trans-woman, claiming that she has "moved in." When asked, he refuses to show the pictures to Ilsa, saying they are "for him to treasure."
August 1, 2019
Angie Grocer-Deli is evicted from the first floor commercial space. Antonio Cook accused them of not paying rent, and apparently they paid in cash, so there are not enough records to prove him wrong.
August 30, 2019
Antonio Hernan Cook invites the residents of the 3rd floor to move to the rooms on the 4th floor, which are smaller and have fewer windows, and access a smaller kitchen and bathroom. We all decline.
Aug 31, 2019
The door separating the suite on the 3rd floor is removed, presumably by the workers who are fixing up the kitchen on the 4th floor at the orders of Antonio Cook. Antonio Cook denies this, and refuses to replace the door, stating that in an SRO, the kitchen is a "common area" and cannot have a door. He is, of course wrong. City codes require a fire door separating a dwelling unit and a hallway.
Ilsa calls the police and a report is filed under "illegal eviction."
Aug 31, 2019
Antonio Cook has a note posted on my door announcing that my rnt will go up to $800 a month. Again I do not stop paying my $600 a mont.
September 3, 2019
The cut-away in room 3A that gives access to the fire escape from the kitchen on the 4th floor is removed, and room 3A goes back to its old shape, thus blocking the fire escape from all people who don't have a key.
October, 2019
Pictures and posters posted up on a wall right outside one of Ilsa's rooms (in a semi-private hallway) are removed and discarded by "parties unknown" (probably Antonio).
October 10, 2019
Antonio Cook and his man Alejandro enter the kitchen unannounced, uninvited, and when no one is home. Antonio takes down a Jim Morrison poster from the wall, folds it in half, and shoves it next to the garbage. This was caught on camera.
October 13, 2019
I catch Jaime Feliciano talking pictures of a couple of chairs I had put temporarily in the hallway. He also takes pictures of my room through my door. I stand in front of him as he does this. I get out my camera phone and ask him if he took pictures of me, my stuff, and my room. He says he only took pictures of stuff in the hallway.
I ask him when we are getting a new door and he says to talk to Antonio.
October 14, 2019, Monday
Numbers and letters are painted on the doors in the hallway to identify rooms and apartments. The numbers do not match the numbers that have been used so far. On the 3rd floor, room 2D is labeled ad "2B" and 2E is labaled as "2C." It is assumed that the "door that is not there" to the suite would be 2A. the rooms inside the suite are not labeled.
Earlier in the year the tenants had put pieces of duct tape on the doors with their room numbers written on them, but thos pieces of tape had been removed before this labeling.
November 7, 2019, Thursday
Antonio texts me and Ilsa, saying that because of complaints to 311 that the kitchen wall needs painting (the unpainted plastering around the new door to room 2A), the shelves on the wall must be removed by Monday, Nov. 11, because the painters will be there at 8 AM. He also says that such shelves are not allowed in an SRO (he is making this up).
November 9, 2019
In an unrelated event, My face gets slashed on the subway
November 11, 2019, Monday
We did not remove the shelves. No painters come, but the doorbell/intercom system starts being replaced.
November 14, 2019, Thursday
While all the tenants are out of the house, the shelves are removed from the wall and the items upon them moved to table and countertops and the floor, interfering with egress to the fire escape. Antonio Cook says that painters will be coming on Saturday, Nov 16.
The doorbell/intercom system is completed.
November 15, 2019. Friday
Antonio Cook texts a message that shows a portion of a computer screen displaying a section of a "vacate order" to me and Ilsa. He refuses to send the entire document, saying "look it up."
November 16, 2019, Saturday
The painters never come. Workers fixing up the kitchen on the 4th floor come down and patch and Spackle the holes in the wall left by the removal of the shelves, but that is all.
These same workers re-paint the room numbers on the doors correctly.
November 18, 2019, Monday
New York City's Housing Preservation and Development arrives to serve the Order to Repair/Vacate Order, looking rooms 2B, 2C, 3B, 3C, and 3D. It is explained that the rooms labeled 2B and 2C when their original inspector had been there days before were incorrectly painted, and the correct room numbers are given.
The order is for rooms 2D, 2E, 3B, 3C, and 3D being "illegal single units" with lack of egress (no fire escapes or sprinkler system). Therefore, effective November 17, and enforced on November 22, those rooms must be vacated.
The tenants of rooms 3C and 3D are out of town and receive phone calls from Antonio Cook. 3B is already vacant, the tenant having moved out about a month before.
I start packing my stuff to move to a storage facility. I move some stuff into the hallway in preparation to moving it to a car later. While I am doing this, Antonio cook shows up, misrepresenting the vacate order, telling other tenants on the 3rd floor (the former superintendent Luis and his son Mario) that the entire building must be vacated and completely gutted. He acts as if this vacate order is an eviction notice on me, and that I will be out for good.
He kicks in the door between 2A and 2B while Ilsa the tenant of 2B is not present. He also kicks loose, then removes by hand, a panel on the lower portion of the room's front door.
He uses his phone to shoot photos or video of my room without my permission. He tells superintendent Jaime Feliciano to throw away anything left in the hall after 9 PM. He steps on and kicks my property. He kicked a ball that is rolling on the floor against the wall, nearly missing my head.
I call 911, telling the police that he is a threat to my personal safety and my property. The police eventually get Antonio Cook to leave.
As I was leaving with my stuff to the storage facility, Ilsa gets home and discovers the damage to the door. She calls the police. The same officers return, but, having not been on the floor to see them damage when they were present earlier, and without me there to report what I saw and show the video I shot, they may not have fully believed that Antonio had done this.
November 19, 2019, Tuesday
Antonio Cook is at the building when I get home from work. I try to explain how the vacate order is not an eviction, but he denies that explanation.
Shortly after Antonio Cook leaves, the fire department shows up, claiming an anonymous tip said that there was a dangerous fire hazard condition in the building. When they see the boxes I had just put in the hallway, they identify that as the hazard, and insist that I remove it while they are on-site. fortunately, a friend with a car had just arrived for that purpose.
A Buildings Department inspector also shows up, and notices several other violations, most of them the responsibility of the building manager, including the lock on the door of 3A, which now blocks egress to the fire escape. The inspector says the lock must be removed. However, presumably because the other tenants on the floor are being vacated, the lock is allowed to stay on.
November 22, 2019, Friday
Enforcement day of the Order to Repair/Vacate Order.
Antonio Cook, his locksmith, HPD, the Buildings Department, and representatives from St. Nick's Alliance, RiseBoro, and the Red Cross are present as I make a mad scramble to move as much of my possessions that remain from the room before the enforcement is placed in effect and the lock changed. Friends had been helping me all week and additional storage spaces had been rented.
Antonio Cook is being a complete dick about it from the beginning to the end of this dumpster fire of a day. He claims that we have been making his life a "living hell" by reporting violations and that he is missing parent-teacher day at school. At one point, when I am explaining how I only had four days to prepare for this, he rubs his thumb and forefinger together, saying "this is the world's smallest violin, playing just for you." When called out for that by an HPD guy he responds "Can't I have a little fun?"
The locksmith expects to get to work as soon as he arrived at 10 AM, but when I ask him to wait he says "you'll be out of here in a matter of minutes, right?" Since I know that I have until noon, I say "more like a matter of hours," and he seems a little annoyed at that.
Meanwhile, side conversations are going on between the observers and the officials with Antonio Cook, Ilsa, and Peachy (the tenant in 2E, also being vacated).
Once the lockup is complete, it comes down to arranging with Antonio Cook when, in the next seven days, I would be granted access to remove the rest of my stuff. The conversation went something like this:
"I'll have to check my calendar."
"Can you check your calendar now?"
"It's back at the office."
"When can you let me know?"
"When I get back to the office."
"When will that be?"
"I don't know"
"Why not today?"
"I'm busy today."
...etcetera.
Ultimately, with the help of the people from HPD and Buildings, it is agreed that Antonio Cook's insurance man, living on the 2nd floor, would be able to give me access on Saturday.
The rep from St. Nick's Alliance helps me file the claim for reduced rent through DHCR that will enable me to secure my room for $1 a month, legally preventing the room to be rented to anyone else and ordering the necessary repairs to be made to allow me back in.
Fred Tomacel, The Chief Deputy Inspector of HPD gives me his card and tells me to keep in touch.
November 23, 2019, Saturday
I and several friends pack up as much as possible and move it to storage spaces. I begin a nocturnal pattern of being at my night job 4-5 nights a week and at my girlfriend's house the other nights.
Ilsa is trying to help Peachy get into a shelter, but he is resistant, even though he has nowhere else to live.
One of the vacated upstairs neighbors, having lived here since the 1990's, moves in with his partner and starts working with a lawyer from his union. The other, having just moved in six weeks ago, moves out for good.
Around 5:30 PM that evening, Antonio Cook calls me on the phone. He says that he never really wanted to kick me out and asks if I really filed all those violations. I say I could not say who did that. He then says that if I could convince Ilsa to give up one of her rooms, he would let me back in. I thank him for the information.
November 25, 2019, Monday
Ilsa, Peachy, and I go to 141 Livingston Street and file HP cases in Housing Court. We make claims for harassment and building code violations. We are given an initial hearing date of Friday, December 13 in room 403, Part B and mail the summonses to the landlord and the building manager.
Antonio texts me asking "Are you done here sir?"
I remind him that I have seven days and that the vacate order is not an eviction.
He tells me that I have to have my stuff out by 10 AM on Friday.
I ask him when the necessary work will be done to allow me to move back in.
He replies "one day in the far, far future."
I ask for more specificity and he says that first Ilsa has to give up one of her two rooms, which he doesn't expect to happen soon. But when he does he will turn the floor back into one apartment with doors connecting everything.
Over the course of the week I talk with Fred Tomacel. He informs me that I actually have 30 days to get my stuff out of my room, not seven, in order to make way for the repairs that are supposed to be coming.
November 29, 2019, Friday
I show up in time to meet Antonio Cook when he opens up my room, ostensibly to give me one last shot at getting stuff out before he disposes of everything. I inform him that I actually have 30 days. He says "I'll give you 30 minutes." I call Fred Thomsell and 911.
When the police come I inform them of the situation. They go inside and talk with Antonio who gives him his version of the story. They come back and say I on;y had 7 days. I put officer Singh on the phone with Fred Thomecell. After a few minutes of discussion, Officer Singh tells Antonio "He has 30 days; that is until December 22."
Antonio says to me "Tell you what, I'll give you 'till December 23."
He then locks my room and says the time is not convenient for him to let me remove anything now.
Meanwhile, the vacated upstairs neighbor from room 3D is overseeing professional movers removing his stuff, and Ilsa, who has been threatened and harassed by Antonio Cook all year, wants to talk with one of the police, but they are outside.
When I go outside, I see a new pair of cops, and, in the course of the exchange, Antonio accuses me of trespassing and has one of the cops tell me to leave. This flabbergasts me. I try to tell the cop nearest to me, one of the new ones, about Ilsa, but he is not buying it and tells me to "stop playing games."
I am, however, allowed to go back upstairs and get my hat and coat and those items which I wished to move out. By the time I get back down, Antonio and the other cops have gone, and Office Singh and his partner are still there and ask to talk with Fred Tomacel again. They talk for a long time. They then confirm that yes, I do have 30 days, and I can even file for an extension if I need to.
December 5, 2019 Thursday
After consultation with a lawyer, I decide to file a case of Illegal Lockout, along with Peachy. While I am filling out the papers, Antonio Cook texts me, saying that from now on, he has the keys to my room and I could only visit it to get stuff out from 9AM - 6 PM, Monday-Friday.
When the Illegal Lockout case is brought before the judge he is not certain that my being locked out is illegal because the room is under a vacate order, but he says he wants to know more about vacate orders and this case, so he will adjourn until Dec. 18.
In the meantime, he checks off the boxes on the court summons staying the landlord, etc from...
1. re-letting the room to anyone else
2. removing any of my property from the room
3. allows that I may have access to my stuff.
I did not notice this at the time.
December 13, 2019, Friday
Ilsa, Peachy, and I go to our first hearing date. We meet the landlord's attorney (a woman working for Ron Hariri of Hariri & Crespo) who doesn't know anything about the building or the case. Together we talk with as paralegal for HPD and explain to them both what is going on.
Somehow it comes out that Efrain Gerena is in the hospital, down with extreme diabetes, one leg amputated, and not all there. I am thinking, then, that it must be his brother or his kids who hired Antonio Cook and this attorney.
We end up talking with the court attorney, who says that the judge is very interested in trying the case and puts it on the schedule for December 23. As we are about to leave I realize that this is the day on which my stuff must be out of the room or else Antonio cook with throw it away. I plead for a different day and they give us December 16.
When we had been waiting for the court's day to begin, however, Antonio had texted me that he was willing to offer me room 3D.
December 14, 2019, Saturday.
I reply to Antonio Cook about the offer for room 3B, and ask if it has been inspected and the vacate order lifted.
He replies "I know what I have to do to make the apartments I order."
I ask if this is to be temporary, and I can move back into 2D when it is taken care of.
He says yes, but that will be a "long time until it is repaired," blaming Ilsa for her recalcitrance. He says they are reopening the DHCR case and it "will no go well for any of you." He reminds me of the Dec 23 date for the removal of my stuff. Apparently he did not read or understand that court order.
December 16, 2019, Monday
I text Antonio Cook and agree to look at room 3B on Wednesday, and at the same time remove some stuff from 2D.
December 18, 2019, Wednesday
Peachy and I show up for our court date. An attorney working "in consult"with Ron Hariri arrives late, but the judge allows the hearing to begin anyway.
He states that he is unfamiliar with all the details of a "Vacate Order," so while it sounds like Peachy and I are not supposed to be in the rooms anyway, he is inclined to allow the adjournment to continue until the HP court date.
I raise my hand to speak and the judge consents to hear me. I state that I am confident that building manager Antonio Cook has no respect for the law or the safety of myself or my property. The judge points out something I had actually not noticed. In his original court order, he had stayed the building owner(s) and any of their agents from:
1. re-letting the room to anyone else
2. removing any of my property from the room
3. allows that I may have access to my stuff.
I contact Ron Hariri, the landlord's attorney, who is also representing Antonio Cook, and inform him that I will be looking at the room. He encourages me to make a decision and we can cancel the court date.
At 3PM, Antonio Cook opens room 2D for me to remove stuff and shows me room 3B. 3B had been completely redone, with new floors, new paint, and new doors connecting it with 3A and 3C. The doors have locks on one side to allow passage from 3C to 3B,a nd 3B to 3A, in the direction of the fire escape, but not the other way.
The room is smaller than 2D, has only one window, in an alcove, as opposed to 5 with two exposures, the kitchen and bathroom on that floor are smaller, and it is one floor higher up. and he is offering it to me at "the same (rent) as your old room," when it had been the decision of the building management that created the condition that led to the vacate order.
Upon bringing this up, Antonio Cook insists I turn off my camera phone, and proceeds to repeat that they are reopening the DHCR case and that I will be evicted. He then leaves, saying he will return at 5:45 to lock up room 2D.
Here is a full viodeo of what went down dring and after the viewing of room 3B
Upon his return, I show Antonio the court order saying my stuff cannot be removed. He says that he is going on vacation so he won't be around for December 23, but if my stuff is not gone when he gets back he is throwing it away.
I call Ron Hariri and explain that the offer is pretty lousy, insulting, even, and that my stuff cannot be removed.
December 24, 2019, Tuesday
Someone starts to move into room 3C. Ilsa confronts him and he claims that he is a workman and departs, leaving behind a few boxes in the hall. HPD is notified.
January 2, 2020, Thursday
The person who was moving into room 3C actually moves in. We seriously doubt that the appropriate papers have been filed to make that room legal, despite the addition of doors.
January 3, 2020, Friday
A new person moves into room 2B. This is reported to the appropriate authorities.
Over the following days, inspectors visit, confirm that the rooms are now occupied and they should not be, for the original vacate orders have not yet been lifted. Those new occupants are ordered to leave as re-vacate orders are issued.
January 16, 2020, Thursday
Antonio Hernan Cook and two others enter the suite on the 3rd floor, ostensibly to study it for alterations to make it "legal." Ilsa feels very threatened by their presence and calls the police, and me. I leave work to try to get back in time to talk with the police, but don't make it in time.
January 17, 2020, Friday
HPD inspectors arrive to inspect the premises regarding the people who were moved into the vacated rooms 3B and 3C. Jaime Feliciano, the superintendent brought in by Antonio Cook, lets one of them into my room twice. In the process, the HPD notices on my door fall off and are kicked into my room. I have video of this.
January 19, 2020 Sunday
I visited 182 Graham Avenue and confirmed that the HPD notices were no longer on my door.
I called 311 to report that the HPD notices were not on my door.
January 21, 2020, Tuesday
Antonio Hernan Cook, building manager enters my room (2D at 182 Graham Ave) with his superintendent Jaime Feliciano and a third, unknown person. They find the notices that had been kicked into the room. They look around for some tape or something that may be among the stuff I left behind. Antonio tries to pull on the leg of my loft bed (the structure is fastened to the wall). He goes through a box on the floor to find a bottle of Elmer's glue. He is unable to get the glue out of the bottle, so he tosses it on a shelf, picks up an electronic piano keyboard and smashes it on another shelf. He finds a white garbage bag and uses it to hold the keyboard as he flings it across the room, flings two boxes across the room, moves my desk chair aside and tries to pull down my steel shelf units (they are also fastened to the wall). He finds a can full of old soda can pull-tabs (from an old crafts project I left behind). He empties the contents of the can over his shoulder onto the floor and flings the can across the room. He picks up a plastic toy gun off of a shelf and throws it at a mirror leaning against the wall. The mirror shatters into many pieces. Everyone then leaves.
I witness all this on my phone an hour and a half after it happens through the security camera I placed in my room the last time I was there.
I leave work, call the police, and go back to 182 Graham Ave. The police arrive and are unable to get into the room, as the three men have left and locked the door. They watch the video and make a report.
Later that day, I find out that the three men were also hanging around Ilsa's door while she was not there looking through the hole that was kicked into it and talking amongst themselves. Preliminary translations indicate that the three men are talking about doing something to Ilsa's cats.
January 22, 2020, Wednesday
I go to 141 Livingston Street and file an Order to Show Cause to restore my Illegal Lockout case to the calendar. It is re-scheduled for February 3rd.
On my way home I get a text from Ilsa of a picture of that door that had been removed from our suite. It is in the vestibule of our building, as if it had been in the basement or something all along. This proves that the door was taken off by Antonio Cook's order!
January 23, 2020, Thursday
We (Ilsa and I) had a meeting scheduled with a couple of staff members of State Senator Julia Salazar. I arrived early, but while I was talking with one of the staffers, Ilsa called saying that Jaime had shown up, unannounced, and was putting the old door back on!
I encouraged two staff members in the office to forget the meeting but rather to go straight to the site and be witness to what was happening.
A dumpster-fire (though not as bad as November 22) ensues, in which the downstairs neighbor who works for Antonio Cook tries to defend Cook's policies and actions Ilsa and I call him out for inconsistencies and violations of laws and regulations, and the staff members of State Senator Salazar try to figure out what is going on.
An inspector from the building department also shows up to investigate something else, but contributes that the door is consistent in design and paint with the frame and could be the same door.
When the dust settles, the door had already been installed, but there is no lock on it. It was agreed that Jaime would come back at 3 PM to install a lock.
I was present at 3PM when Jaime came back and watched him replace the lock and add a mechanical door-closing device. But when done, he says he does not have the keys, to call Antonio for them. Another neighbor on the floor comes home and says he will pick up keys the next day, but declines to do so now.
Ilsa and I begin making calls to report this. Then Antonio and Alejandro show up, knock on the door, and hand Ilsa and I papers and says "you've been served." When asked, he says that they keys are being copied.
The paper is a "Notice of Termination" in which Antonio Cook states that he is ending the month-to-month "hire" of these rooms, lists a series of complaints including harassment, alterations, etc.It says to be out by Feb 18, and lists all the tenants, vacated or otherwise, that pre-date his tenure as building manager.
I remind him of the court date on Feb 3. He says "I'll be there with bells on!"
January 24, 2020, Friday
The neighbor who said he would get a keys did not get a key.
Ilsa and I go to Antonio's office, Urban Properties, at 711 Grand St. His "office" is really one desk in a shared work space. His employee, Alejandro, is leaving for the day, but does not have any keys.
We then go to the police precinct to report this. Having a lock on the door of which only building management has the keys is a lockout waiting to happen.
The police decline to make a report for this, but the detective in charge of the case does happen to be heading out at the time. We meet him in the lobby and he says that they are going to arrest Antonio, but not when.
January 27, 2020, Monday
Jaime sneaks into the suite through the newly-replaced door when no one is around. He locks the door behind him when he leaves.
Ilsa and another neighbor (not involved with this case) arrive hoe at the same time to find themselves locked out.
Ilsa goes to the police station to report an illegal lockout. A call to Antonio Hernan Cook, convinces the police that this was "all a misunderstanding" and a person is sent to unlock the door. Still no keys are given.
January 30, 2020, Thursday
The downstairs neighbor who works for Antonio Hernan Cook brings an "architects assistant" into the suite and my room (2D) without prior notice or permission. The A.A. takes measurements, counts windows, etc.
I had called him to talk about some videos that I had shot that happened to include a relative of his, and he told me that he is on my floor, that he had knocked on the door and called out and no one had answered, so he went in to the kitchen area of the suite and my room. We have video of he and the A.A. entering the suite, taking measurements and making notes, and the A.A. entering my room, looking around, and counting the windows.
I go to the building and talk to him, explaining that he should not go past the door unless someone is present, and he should make arrangements at least 24 hours in advance.
February 3, 2020, Monday
The rescheduled court date for the Illegal Lockout case is today. An attorney for Antonio Hernan Cook shows up with a "repsonse" letter and wants me to sign that I haver recieved it. It is full of point after point of falsehoods and untrue accusations, and I decide not to sign it unless I am in front of a judge.
When called in court, the court attorney declines to see my footage of Antonio breaking things in my room and his attorney says they want to mae an offer to rent the entire floor to me. The court attorney instructs us to "go outside and come up with a settlement."
When we get outside I show the attorney the video. She is appalled. I ask her to make me an offer. She decides to contact her boss, Ron Hariri.
She puts me on the phone with Mr. Hariri. He has abviously done his research on me, for he mentions my subway incident. When he mentions the offer, I tell him that if Antonio Cook and Urban Prioperties were to resign and get out of the business of 182 Graham Ave, I would be at the bargaining table in a minute. His counter-offer is to be the go-between between Antonio and I. We settle on that for the time being.
I agree to have the Illegal Lockout case re-adjourned to Feb. 18 (the date of the second part of the HP case) with the stipulations of the court order to remain in effect. I want to add a stipulation that Antonio Cook and people working for him would not be allowed to enter my room, but the court attorney maintained the court order as it stood.
The next day I go into surgery to repair my right rotator cuff. From that day on my right arm is in a high-tech sling.
February 6, 2020, Thursday
Ilsa's Illegal Lockout case, the one steming from the temporary lockout incident on January 27, comes to court. The judge rules that since Ilsa is back in possession of her room an illegal lockout condition no longer exists, so the case is dismissed. The incident, however, is added to the list of harassments that will be mentioned as having happened since the original filing of the HP case.
February 9th, 2020, Sunday
We have been able to translate some of the video that was shot of Antonio Cook, Jaime Feliciano, and the stranger. It sounds like they are discussing doing nasty things to Ilsa's cats. Upon passing Jaime in the vestibule of the building that evening, Ilsa cautions Jaime against doing anything against her cats. Jaime becomes enraged and says if he is accused again, he will do something to hurt her cats.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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