END OF THE YEAR MESSAGE
IN
2025, I HAVE BEEN FORCED TO ENDURE A PAINFUL AND DISCRIMINATORY JOURNEY IN MY
SEARCH FOR HOUSING. THE SELFISHNESS OF ANTI-VOUCHER LANDLORDS AND THE DECEPTION
OF CERTAIN REALTORS HAVE CONDEMNED ME TO REMAIN IN A SHELTER.
As of December
12, 2025, I have requested to apply for 284 apartments, and these are the
most disappointing experiences.
BRUMA
REALTY
My efforts to find an
apartment in the Bronx in the area where I want to live have been severely
limited by certain brokers who control most of the available listings. Bruma
Realty manages the largest number of apartments and is the most difficult
agency to deal with for applicants using a housing voucher. Since receiving my
first voucher in June 2023, I have repeatedly tried to apply for
apartments listed by Bruma Realty but have never been successful.
On February 5, 2025,
Ms. Sadia Madera, a broker from Bruma Realty, offered me an apartment at 55
E 196th St., Apt. 6D, Bronx, NY 10468. I signed the lease the following
day. Unfortunately, my housing voucher needed an update, and Bruma Realty
refused to wait; as a result, I lost the apartment. Once my voucher was
corrected, Ms. Madera advised me to wait for another apartment with the same
landlord, who had already approved me. On March 17, 2025, Ms. Madera
informed me that another unit—Apartment 3B in the same building would
soon be vacated. I submitted my updated documents to Bruma Realty, but the
apartment was put on the market. Ms. Madera told me she did not know why the
apartment had not been offered to me. I later contacted the superintendent of
the building, who informed me that Apartment 4D would soon be vacated.
After several message exchanges with Ms. Madera regarding this unit, she
eventually told me that Bruma Realty had denied my requests. Shortly afterward,
she blocked my calls, which then went straight to her voicemail. All I
had left of these apartments were the photos I took.
NYC
EMPIRE REALTY
On May 12, 2025, I
went to a building located at 1254 Sherman Avenue, Bronx, NY. I spoke
with the superintendent, who informed me that a one-bedroom apartment was
available but that I needed to apply through a real estate agency. He sent a
message to the broker introducing me, and the broker set up an interview
immediately. When I arrived at the building, I found out that the agency was NYC
EMPIRE REALTY, the same agency where a broker had tricked me with an
apartment in November 2023. The office was closed; I made nine calls
trying to contact the broker whom I didn't know who he was. I received no
response after half an hour of waiting; the agent texted me saying he had
stepped out to move his car and would be back in 20 minutes. To my surprise, the broker
was Mr. Jansel Pujols, the same person who, in 2023, had ignored all my
messages and blocked my calls after I submitted an apartment application. This
time, Mr. Pujols recognized me immediately and told me that the apartment had
already been rented and that no other units were available.
On September 5,
2025, I found another apartment listed by NYC Empire Realty—2700
Grand Concourse, Apartment #411, Bronx, NY. This time, the broker was Mr.
Miguel Acosta, whom I had spoken with at the beginning of 2024 about my
search for a one-bedroom apartment, so I was glad to reconnect with him.
On the other hand, since June 2019
I have always been interested in this building. I immediately emailed, called,
and texted him to express my interest in the apartment. For three days, I tried
to reach him, but my calls went straight to his voicemail. On September 15,
2025, suspecting that my phone number might have been blocked, I tested it
by calling him from another phone. I received an immediate response—within less
than ten minutes, Mr. Acosta called the new number three times. Because the buildings were owned by Chestnut
Holding, I sent six emails to them: on July 21, 2023; May 28, 2025; June 1,
2025; August 29, 2025; September 3, 2025; and September 5, 2025. In my
messages, I expressed my frustration with brokers blocking phone numbers and
preventing potential tenants from even applying for an apartment. None of my
emails were answered.
PADSTERS
REALTY
On January 7, 2025, I
found an apartment on Zillow located at 3045 Grand Concourse, Apartment E1,
Bronx, NY, listed by Mr. Solomon Brecher from Padsters Realty. Despite
repeated calls, I was unable to reach him. I went to the building and left a
letter with my documents for him to pick up. On January 13, 2025, I
noticed that the apartment had been removed from the market. I continued
calling Mr. Brecher until he finally answered and told me that the apartment
had already been rented but assured me not to worry because another Apartment C2
would soon be available. On January 29, 2025, after several attempts to
contact him, I received a disappointing call from Mr. Brecher informing me that
I could not rent the apartment because the landlord would not accept vouchers
and preferred a tenant who would pay out of pocket.
VECTOR NEW YORK
– ABDULLAH RAHIM
I sent this broker 40
emails asking for the opportunity to apply for the apartments he had listed for
rent. On September 25, 2025, after all my messages were ignored, I
called the realtor’s office. A woman answered and asked whether I would be
paying cash or using a voucher. As soon as I replied that I had a voucher, she
immediately hung up the phone. I found this response unprofessional and
discriminatory. Following this incident, I emailed Vector NY with the subject
line: “VOUCHER HOLDERS DESERVE TO BE TREATED WITH FAIRNESS AND RESPECT.” There
are proper ways to handle inquiries even if an apartment is not available to
those with vouchers. I understand that having a voucher may involve additional
steps and it’s hard for you to assist the large number of voucher holders
applying for apartments. This kind of treatment discourages voucher holders
from accessing housing opportunities and raises serious concerns.
RESPONSE FROM ABDULLAH RAHIM: Hey, we take vouchers. Also, a thousand calls
come in, only have 2 staff answering inbound calls. Hang ups or early
disconnects happen. What program do you have and how many beds is it? Hanan can
give you a list. We have a set of questions that filters apartments down.
Thanks! Abdullah Rahim Head of Affordable Leasing
Vector New York. was Myar thats the cash line we will apologize to her. Despite
this incident, I continued to apply for apartments to rent and to this day I
never received an offer.
NY AFFORDABLE
RENTALS
I sent 40 emails
requesting to apply for their apartments. A few times, they replied with the
same list of ten questions asking for personal information, which I answered
each time, but I never received any follow-up or assistance.
OUMAR TRAORÉ –
MAKSUTI
I sent 32 emails
requesting the opportunity to apply for the apartments listed
on the Zillow rental website. I never received a single response.
****
MY FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IS SILENT IN
FEAR OF REPRISALS.
September 9, 2025
REWRITING
MY POST PERSONAL LIFE... EDITING MY LATEST BOOK
“I
RAN OUT OF PAPER, INK AND PEACE OF MIND”
.
****
May 28, 2025
THESE ARE SOME OF MY DESPERATE CRIES PUT INTO
EMAILS SEEKING HELP SO THAT I WOULD NOT BECOME JUST ANOTHER HOMELESS PERSON IN
NEW YORK.
As all my correspondence had the same subject
and objective, I will highlight only a few messages where I describe the most
relevant facts. On the other hand, since my computer was thrown out in my first
shelter, I lost a lot of information and evidence. Because
these posts are part of the last book I'm writing, I've changed the real names
to pseudonyms.
January 23, 2020 Mayor Bill de Blasio City Hall New York, NY 10007
I turn out to you by putting my hope
of finding help in your good heart that is always in favor of the New York’s
community. The tragedy of my life is documented on my website
www.bankofamericamykiller.com I beg you to see my personal life. In this blog I
lay my fears and anguish that have been invisible to the world.
On 1979 I came to
New York fascinated by the great American dream, I've spent my whole life
working hard to keep this dream. I moved to New Jersey and worked for 21 years
for Bank of America. I was abused and victim of medical discrimination, since
2004 mentally tortured by the Bank and its Attorneys that left me in the
streets selling my story: “FOUR YEARS OF A LIVING HELL AT BANK OF AMERICA”.
On September 2012, I
returned to New York wanting to die on the street demanding justice. The
miserable life that Bank of America forced me to live has been inseparable from
my survival to keep a roof over my head and a place for my books. I have rented
rooms in places such as the kitchen, walking closets and living rooms, I've
been through humiliation, deception, lies, threats, intimidation, theft and
sexual harassment that have forced me to live locked up in a room. Most of my
landlords live on public assistance and my rent must be paid in cash, which
it’s between $500.00 and $600.00. To date I have rented 18 rooms and in some of
them I have felt fear for my life, even where I currently reside, I was
sexually assaulted. The landlady kicked me out of the house to cover up her
cousin's wrongdoings.
On April 2019 I
decided to have my retirement and combine it with my income of alimony to rent
a studio-apartment. I visited a super from a building in the Bronx and we had
an interview in the basement where he lives. He told me that with my income I
would qualify for one studio. He also assured me that the building’s owner was
his friend, and he will speak on my behalf. He created great expectations for
me, assuring that by mid-July 2019 two studios will be vacated. He showed me
one of them on the third floor.
I trusted this man and expressed to
him my need to have a place to stay while I was waiting for the studio. He
called a tenant on the 7th floor for a small room that she had available. It
was a walking closet. The landlady asked $800.00 for rent, but I turned
down the high price. The super asked for $600.00 and we agreed, then the super
asked me for a $150.00 commission. We went to the bank to withdraw the money. I
moved in on July 6, 2019, and the super promised me I will be in
the room for only two weeks. Three days later he asked me to lend $100.00, and I
gave him the money promising he'd pay it back by the end of the week. He never
did it.
The landlady's strange lifestyle made
my life hell, and I felt terror living in the apartment. I called the Super
many times, but he ignored my calls and wouldn't even open the basement door
for me. One day I met him in the hallway, and he told me that the building’s
owner came every Thursday and that I should ask him about the studio. This
never happened, I couldn't meet the owner.
On August 31, 2019, the
super informed me that the apartment on the third floor was vacated, but I had
to wait because he didn't have the keys to clean it. Five days later he told me
it was going to be ready in October because it needed repairs. My life at home
#16 was intolerable and I had to move to another room a few blocks away from
the building. On September 21, 2019, I met the super at a
vegetable store and informed me that another tenant was renting a room on the
third floor where the studio was.
On Thursday, September 26,
2019, I went to the building to see the owner. After an odyssey in
complicity with the super's brother, I could see him in the elevator for a few
seconds. I asked him about the studio and in an unfriendly way he replied that
he did not know what he was going to do. The super was present, speechless.
On October 17, 2019, I moved
back into the building taking the super offer. This time he charged me $100.00
commission and the landlady $50. 00. He forgot that he never paid me the
$100.00 I had lent him. In this apartment I could see the studio that was
across the hall. The door didn't have a top lock, and I could see inside
through the hole. One day I was shocked when I saw a man leave the studio. The
super told me that he was one of his friends who slept there temporarily. On October
26, 2019, I met the super in the elevator and asked him for the key to the entrance
of the building that the landlady never gave me. He asked me to meet him in the
basement to pick up a copy. This was a hoax; he didn't have the key but asked
me for $200.00 to pay the people who worked on the fifth floor. This lie made
me run out of his apartment.
December 20, 2019, I called the building’s office asking for the studio. They
asked for an income of $50,000.00 a year and a credit score of
over 700. My income was not enough, and I couldn't qualify. I had no choice but
to give up the promises that the super still gives me. I am devastated and
frustrated that I cannot have a decent place to live, my financial situation
prevents me from having one. Please, I need your help finding a city program
that will allow me to rent an apartment. Sincerely, CG
****
February 4, 2020, emailed to Letitia James: gethelp@pubadvocate.nyc.gov. subject: PLEASE HELP ME NOT BECOMING ONE MORE HOMELESS OF NY
Aug 16, 2021, 12:35 AM complaints@dhr.ny.gov subject: DESPERATELY ASKING FOR HELP
Aug 19, 2021, 2:37 PM dhr.sm.complaints
<complaints@dhr.ny.gov>
To whom it may concern, If you would like to
file a complaint of discrimination, please visit the following link to learn
more: https://dhr.ny.gov/complaint Respectfully,
Aug 20, 2021, 12:59 AM to:
hrp@urbanjustice.org subject: DESPERATELY ASKING FOR HELP
Aug
20, 2021, 12:49 AM to:
civil.rights@ag.ny.gov subject: DESPERATELY ASKING FOR HELP
Aug 20, 2021, 12:49 AM to: civil.rights@ag.ny.gov subject: DESPERATELY ASKING FOR HELP
There is no one left to call, write, or
email. I cried out for help without being heard and I turned to you because I
don't have anyone else anymore. I have written letters to Millshan Realty Co
building management c/o Miller and Miller 29 Locust Avenue Rye, N.Y. 10580
(914) 439-4136, informing them of the corruption I have been victim of on its
property. Letters dated February 7, 2020, August 25, 2020, February 29, 2020,
July 4, 2021, August 11, 2021, 2021, I have never received a response.
On June 15, 2019, I met Mr. Francis,
the superintendent of a building at 2665 Grand Concourse Bronx New York 10468. I
expressed interest in renting a studio and he assured me that I qualified for
it. On top of that, he said that he has a personal friendship with the building
owner and would use his influence to help me. He informed me that by mid-July
2019, two studies would be vacant, 3 L and 8 M. Meantime, he asked one of his
friends Ms. Nany Martin of apartment 7 J to rent me a small room she had. On
July 6th, 20219 I moved to a room that looked like a walking closet. I paid
$600.00 although Ms. Martin rent was $553.51. The super charged me $150.00
commission; we went to the bank to withdraw the money. Three days later, he
asked me for a $100.00 loan, never to pay me back. I believed in his promises
that I would be there only for a few weeks.
The cohabitation in this place was terrifying and I had to move out on
September 6, 2019.
On 17
October 2019, the Super brought me back to the building to his friend Ms. Flor
Tascano Catano who had a room for rent in her apartment 3 H. The rent was
$600.00; he charged me $100 commission and Ms. Tascano $50.00. Ms. Tascano had
remodeled the apartment so that two cousins Maria, Luis and I would pay her
rent. She converted the living room into two bedrooms, one for herself and the
other for her 14-year-old son, the hallway became the living room with
furniture. The fire escape window was blocked, and the apartment was left very
dark and unvented. The fire department later removed the wall and door to free
the ladder. They had to sleep between shower curtains.
On November
16, 2019, I was sexually assaulted by Luis and the next day I informed Ms. Tascano
about her cousin degrading act. In one of the visits of Mr. R Cabbas, Ms. Tascano’s
ex-husband to his son, I told him what Luis did to me. Ms. Tascano became
enraged with me for revealing her cousin's actions and resorted to fraudulent
and criminal actions to throw me out of the house and cover her cousin sexual
assault. However, on January 31, 2020, she confronted Luis with me and
admitted that he had attacked me sexually, but she didn’t take any action.
Luis's
sexual harassment continued. He walked through my door half-naked with a towel
covering his intimate parts and sometimes it was about to fall. He waited for
the moment I was alone in the kitchen washing my dishes to approach me and push
me into the sink. His shorts were almost in the middle of his buttocks, and it
was obvious that he was not wearing underpants. I still believed in the super
promise that he would help me get the studio apartment 3 L. I had no choice but
to endure his constant harassment along with the entire family.
On February
25, 2020, Ms. Tascano used her son as another excuse to throw me out of the
house. Along with her cousin Maria, she showed me a document that according to her
had been given by the court to file a lawsuit against me. She accused me that
her son could not sleep because he was afraid that I was going to kill him and
her. He asked not to buy a birthday cake because I will poison it. Maria threatened
to beat me. All I feel for this kid is compassion for the miserable life he
has. He spends most of the time locked up in a room, isolated and doesn’t like
to communicate, not even with his parents. I have been generous to him. The
mental manipulation and the hate that Ms. Tascano has put on her son, began to
take effect on August 17, 2020. I was in the kitchen, and he lifted a
flashlight and pointed the light at me in a clear act of hatred and threat.
On February
29, 2020, Ms. Tascano started using letters and people stating they were
coming from the court to harass me with eviction, even though I had paid the
month and had no rent in arrears. May 10, 2020, Mother's Day was a sad day
because of the social distance imposed by Covid-19. My eldest son came all the
way from New Jersey and bought me groceries. We saw each other through the
crystals of his car. Our meeting was ruined by the lurking and harassment of
Ms. Tascano and former landlady Ms. Martin of seventh floor. They yelled at me
and called me as I ran to the building.
On August
24, 2020, Ms. Tascano put up a sofa blocking the exit to the apartment and
the kitchen leaving less than a foot to pass. I tripped over the couch breaking
a glass jug with water and hurt my knee badly, keeping me in bed for a week. On
August 28, 2020, with my knee in pain I had to run out of my room amid the
darkness and smoke, the fire alarm was activated. As soon as Ms. Tascano saw
me screamed at me saying: We're burning! We're burning! She said to
terrify me.
On October
1, 2020, the Super of the building removed the lock on my room door stating
that it was a New York City order because rented rooms are not allowed to have
the door with a key. This is one of my biggest concerns that forces me to be
confined in my room, I am not able to lock my door with a key. However, on
August 10, 2021, a man stating is Ms. Tascano's brother moved into a room next
to me and he locked his door with a key. This man around 7:42 pm approached my
door in the middle of the darkness and asked for my name. Ms. Tascano removed
the lamp from the ceiling leaving the hallway very dark. As far as I know, Ms. Tascano's family is in
her country.
Ms.
Tascano and I agreed that I would wait for the court day before the eviction,
and I will move out when a judge orders so. On July 16, 2020, Ms. Tascano
asked her son to call the police. She told them that she did not know where the
courthouse was to sue me. I confirmed that I was going to make her deal
effective. I have endured a lot of emotional and physical pain and am not going
to give up all my survival efforts, nor am I going to silence the corruption I
went through. This is a miserable story that you can see videos and pictures as
evidence in my blog: www.bankofamericamykiller.com I am a 66-year-old woman
slowly recovering from the long-term effects that left me the COVID-19 in 2020.
I live as a prisoner, Ms. Tascano uses the door chain of the apartment to
control my exits. I am desperately
seeking justice; I beg you to help me find it. Sincerely, CG
Aug 20, 2021, 9:24 AM Civil Rights Civil.Rights@ag.ny.gov to me
Thank you for contacting the Civil Rights
Bureau at the New York Attorney General's Office. Our Office looked further
into the complaint you filed, but we were unable to find evidence of
discrimination that falls within our jurisdiction.
You may, however, wish to contact the New
York State Division of Human Rights, which also has the authority to
investigate individual complaints of discrimination. Complaints can be filed
online at this address: https://dhr.ny.gov/complaint. Should you wish to
contact a private attorney, you may obtain attorney referrals from your local
bar association.
Please note that your complaint with the
Attorney General's office does not have any impact on applicable statutes of
limitations. By filing a complaint with the OAG, you have not initiated a
lawsuit or a proceeding, nor has the OAG initiated a lawsuit or proceeding on
your behalf. Sincerely, Civil Rights Bureau
Aug 25, 2021, 11:50 PM to:
kavanagh@nysenate.gov subject: DESPERATELY I AM SEEKING FOR
HELP
Sep 9, 2021, 1:09 PM to:
gethelp@advocate.nyc.gov subject: MY LANDLADY’S HARASSMENT TURNED
INTO TERRORISM
Sep 9, 2021, 12:44 PM to: notifynyc@oem.nyc.gov subject: NEED HELP! MY LANDLADY’S
HARASSMENT TURNED INTO TERRORISM
Sep 9, 2021, 11:07 PM to: communitycenter@nypd.org subject: MY LANDLADY’S HARASSMENT TURNED
INTO TERRORISM I AM EXHAUSTED SEEKING TO BE HEARD PLEASE HELP ME
Oct 5, 2021, 5:09 PM to: communitycenter@nypd.org sbject: THIS IS A FOLLOW UP TO MY EMAIL OF SEPTEMBER
9,2021.
Nov
3, 2021, 2:25 PM to:
communitycenter@nypd.org subject: I'M DESPERATELY LOOKING FOR THREE ANSWERS TO MY QUESTIONS.
Nov 12, 2021, 5:09 PM To:
FDNY.businessSupport@fdny.nyc.gov subject: ASKING TO CHECK FIRE ESCAPE
WINDOW
Once again, I would like to inform you of a
new concern regarding access to the escape ladder in the event of a fire. In
previous emails I have expressed my critical housing situation that I have had
with Ms. Flor Tascano aka Cabbas in apartment 3 H 2665 Grand Concourse and
Bronx, NY 10468. Ms. Tascano turned the living room into two rooms that blocked
the fire escape window. In October 2020 you cleared access to the stairs. Now,
a new tenant has blocked the escape window with his belongings. I would like
you to check if access to this window is secure. Thank you very much for your
attention, sincerely CG
Nov 17, 2021, 11:42 PM to:
communitycenter@nypd.org
I am sorry, I can't stop bringing to you my
worries of living with corrupt people at 2665 Grand Concourse Apt 3 H Bronx NY
10468. The tenant who lives behind the curtains removed the lock on the front
door because his key got stuck. The super changed the lock and the tenant did
not give me a copy; he told me that I had to ask the new manager of the
apartment for the key. I realized that they intended to leave me locked in my
room and I didn’t have anyone to turn to.
Mar 24, 2022, 10:13 PM to: info@nylawhelp.org subject: A CASE OF EVICTION TURNED INTO TERROR, PLEASE I NEED HELP
My name is
Clemencia Garzón, I am a 66-year-old woman who asks you for advice or
representation in a lawsuit that my landlady Ms. Flor Tascano (aka Cabbas) has
filed against me before the Civil Court of Small Claims. On March 21, 2021, 6
months after she left the apartment, she handed me a letter from the court
stating that on April 11, 2022, I have a bench trial for her claim of
$9,600.00. Ms. Tascano has sued me in Housing Court for executing my eviction from
a room I rented to me on October 17, 2019. This case is not just a
matter of eviction or rent arrears, it is also a matter of sexual assault,
harassment, intimidation, fears for my life, and most of all, physical and
emotional harm.
Due
to the pandemic, my eviction process was delayed, and Ms. Tascano took
advantage of the eviction moratorium to not pay her rent. On September 22,
2021, Ms. Tascano moved out of the apartment without notifying me. She
rented 2 bedrooms and the living room to African American men, marijuana
smokers, and the apartment has no ventilation. I still don't know how many
there are, nor do I recognize them. They are in their room’s day and night. Ms.
Tascano maintained great cunning to conceal her intentions of leaving me alone
with unknown men. On March 15, 2022, I went to the hospital by emergency
due to an upper respiratory tract infection with severe symptoms shortness of
breath-cough-nasal congestion-sore throat-chills. This infection is worsening
my health; I am still recovering from the sequels left to me by the Covid-19 I
had in 2020. It has been hard for me to get rid of the shortness of breath. I
have also been in the hospital due to skin infections with painful eruptions.
Ms. Tascano locked with a key the extra bathroom the apartment has.
I
don’t have anywhere to live; due to the pandemic my living income was cut off
and it is difficult for me now to qualify for a studio-apartment. I am waiting
for the two pending lawsuits that Ms. Tascano has filed against me. One she is
accusing me that I am going to kill her and her son, and the other for
eviction. I am looking forward to the day my case is heard by a judge or jury
to have justice. Thank you for your attention to my case. Sincerely, CG.
April 13, 2022, 12:58 PM
to: housing4allny@gmail.com subject: VICTIM OF ABUSES LOOKING FOR
HELP, FOR JUSTICE
April 13, 2022, 11:37 AM to:
press@cchr.nyc.gov subject: VICTIM OF ABUSES LOOKING FOR
HELP, FOR JUSTICE
Mar 24, 2022, 9:27 PM to: HousiGrpAdv@legal-aid.org subject: LOOKING FOR LEGAL HELP
April 13, 2022, 11:13 AM To:
amccauley@cchr.nyc.gov subject: VICTIM OF ABUSES LOOKING FOR
HELP, FOR JUSTICE
April 16, 2022, 8:22 PM to:
michellebe@bronxdefenders.org subject: VICTIM OF ABUSES LOOKING FOR
HELP, FOR JUSTICE Ms. Michele Bello Bronx Defenders Bronx, New
York
April
25, 2022, 2:53 PM
To:
mdandin@advocate.nyc.gov subject: VICTIM OF ABUSES LOOKING FOR HELP, FOR JUSTICE
May 30, 2022, 11:34 PM to: s8.info@nycha.nyc.gov subject: PLEASE HELP ME NOT BECOMING ONE MORE HOMELESS OF NY
Once again, I am writing to you asking for
help, so I don't become one more homeless person of New York.
May 30, 2022, 1:06 PM to:
RiveraJ@nyassembly.gov subject: PLEASE HELP ME NOT BECOMING ONE MORE HOMELESS OF NY.
On May 20, 2022, I was lucky enough
to receive a brochure to invite people to your Community Resource Fair event.
I am writing to you because I feel that you are a person who inspires
confidence and cares about the well-being of the New York Community. I
apologize for being too expressive to tell you my story and ask for your help
so that I don't become just another homeless person in New York after July
8, 2022.
Jun 2, 2022, 3:34 PM to: civiljustice@hra.nyc.gov subject: PLEASE HELP ME NOT BECOMING ONE MORE HOMELESS OF NY
Once
again, I am writing to you asking for help, so I don't become one more homeless
person in New York after July 8, 2022. I must comply with a court order
to vacate a room I rented under the corruption of a superintend and landlady. I
am 67 years old, and I still live the fear effects left by the abuse and sexual
assault I went through.
Civil Justice civiljustice@hra.nyc.gov Fri, Jun 3,
2022, 8:48 AM to me
Hello, thank you for contacting New York
City’s Office of Civil Justice (OCJ). OCJ partners with legal organizations
across New York City to provide access to free legal assistance to New Yorkers
facing eviction and displacement. OCJ is a unit of the City’s Department of
Social Services (DSS).
We would like to contact you with free legal
help. Can you please provide us with the following: Your address, The index or
LT number of the court case. We are here to help.
Jun 3, 2022, 10:25 AM From Clemencia Garzon clegarz@gmail.com to Civiljustice
Thank you very much for your help. I am
sending to you a court date notes from Housing Civil Court that was adjourned
to May 6, 2022, and the stipulation.
Jun 3, 2022, 12:23 PM Civil
Justice <civiljustice@hra.nyc.gov>
Hello, thank you for providing the
additional information. We have referred your matter to one of our legal
services providers for possible assistance with the housing court case. NEVER RECEIVED ANY HELP
Jun 2, 2022, 3:38 PM to:
info@nycommunities.org subject: PLEASE HELP ME NOT BECOMING ONE MORE
HOMELESS OF NY
Jun 2, 2022, 3:13 PM to:
hrp@urbanjustice.org subject: PLEASE HELP ME NOT BECOMING ONE
MORE HOMELESS OF NY
Jun 3, 2022, 11:23 AM to:
hrp@urbanjustice.org
As part of my message sent to you on June
2, 2022, I am attaching the stipulation issued by the Housing Court that
demands that I must vacate on July 8, 2022, the room that Ms. Flor Tascano
rented to me. Also, I am sending to you a court date from Housing Civil Court
that was adjourned to May 6, 2022. I
will always be very grateful to you for your help in this housing crisis that
keeps me deeply devastated. NEVER RECEIVED ANSWER
Jun 3, 2022, 5:51 PM to: alarancuent@legal-aid.org subject: PLEASE HELP ME NOT BECOMING ONE MORE HOMELESS OF NY
Jun 3, 2022, 11:57 AM to: info@nycommunities.org subject:
Re: PLEASE HELP ME NOT BECOMING ONE
MORE HOMELESS OF NY
*******************
April 28, 2025
I've rewritten my post-personal life, this is a miserable
chapter of my latest book I RAN OUT OF PAPER, INK, AND PEACE OF MIND. On one page I
summarize the 18 homes I have had since I started a housing crisis that left me
homeless.
My
posts on my website were used against me to resolve a long-standing legal issue
that I have been fighting in a New Jersey Court. I was forced to stop writing
my miseries so that my ex-husband would not use them to defame me in Court and
get rid of his alimony obligation. He made false statements based on the
information I provided on my blogs to create a negative image of me and the
Court would rule in his favor.
The three most impactful homes have been: Home #
2 This experience left me with a confusing picture about the morality of
some people who enforce laws. Many times, I felt more insecurity at home than on
the street. I couldn't believe that the police officers with whom I shared the
same roof had no dignity, no respect for themselves, for others, and for the
institution they represented. Home # 12 This is the most evil and corrupt landlady I have
ever met. The protagonists of this macabre story are introduced with names to
identify their misdeeds. (2 pages). Home #18
is the most traumatic and overwhelming experience
I've ever had in my housing crisis. It was marked by the corruption of the
people in the building where I tried to rent an apartment. All my efforts ended
up in a New York City Courthouse. My room was a steppingstone that threw me
into a deep hole to live more misery as a homeless person. (3 pages).
SUMMARY HOME # 1
September 04, 2012, I found in a newspaper a room for rent. The landlady accepted
me with my old poodle dog. The rent was $550 00 per month plus $25.00 Internet
services. I wasn't allowed to use the kitchen, and this forced me to eat canned
food. The landlady was a Hispanic woman with two daughters (3, 10 years) and
her fiancé father of the younger girl. Every space in the house was rented to
men. The landlady lived off public assistance and the City paid $ 1,000.00 for
her rent. She received rent payments from tenants over $3,000.00 per month. At
the same time, she had a cleaning business under her sister’s name who owned a
restaurant. The living room was divided into two parts, one for her, the fiancé
and the youngest daughter. The other side was separated by a low wall and was
part of the kitchen where the eldest daughter and her grandmother slept.
My room was located on the second
floor next to two bedrooms and behind the bathroom. One room was rented to
three alcoholic men; they drank every night making noises while playing loud
music. The bathroom most of the time was disgusting, the drunk men fell
asleep there. The other room was rented to a married man who used to
sleep with his lovers. The basement was rented to two men. One of them was an
alcoholic who was harassing the 10-year-old girl, I heard rumors that he was
the landlady’s lover. He paid rent with food stamps. The landlady was obsessed
with Jennifer Lopez and wanted to have her body; she paid $10,000.00 for a
plastic surgery. She removed the fat from shoulders and back to increase her
butt. After the surgery she stayed at home showing everyone how her new butt
looked. There was no peace in the house, the loud fights between the landlord,
fiancé, grandmother, tenants and their daughters were frequent. My dog’s health
deteriorated quickly, and I had to put him to sleep. I became homeless. My
ex-husband reported me as a missing/dead person and terminated my alimony. I
rented 5x5 storage to keep my books and spend the night there. This place was
as cold as the street; the humidity was high and the paint on the ceiling fell
on me with dust that I could barely breathe.
SUMMARY HOME # 2
I found a room through Craigslist for $ 425.00 in the Bronx;
4 other tenants shared the House. Two of them were attending the New York City
Police Academy and they rented rooms until the end of school. Their families
lived in New Jersey. One of the officers was English-speaking and the other
Hispanic. The other tenant was a young chef who worked the night shift at a
club. The main room was rented to a man who came from time to time to the house
when he wished to be accompanied by someone. On weekends, the Hispanic officer
traveled to New Jersey to see his family. The English-speaking officer stayed
at home and brought women from the academy to sleep with them. The chef led a
disastrous personal life with financial problems. Every night he was drunk, and
I worried that his religious beliefs would set the house on fire. He had a
large frame on the floor with a picture of his dead father to talk to him. He
lit a large candle, and the wax fell on the carpet already burned by the
carelessness of the flame.
The situation worsened when the English-speaking police
officer decided to live with one of his mistresses in the house. This woman was
an arrogant person who didn't greet anyone.
She left her underwear on the bathroom floor. Their room was right
across from the kitchen. One day I was shocked to see the police officer and
his lover sleeping naked with the room’s door opened. The chef told me that one
day at noon he went to the kitchen and heard their screams and moans from the
sexual act. They were always drunk. The owner was informed that a woman who was
not a tenant lived in the house and came to investigate it. When he asked this
officer if the woman was his friend, he had the audacity to say that the woman
was the chef's girlfriend.
This officer was walking into the house dressed in shorts
with the gun hanging from his belt with an intimidating attitude. The
graduation from the New York Police Academy took place in July and the Hispanic
officer moved out of the house. The landlord asked the chef to vacate the room
because his rent payments were late. A new tenant joined the hell of the house.
He was a security guard who spoke English and constantly made fun of my accent
by repeating the words I said. The couple of police lovers took ownership and
control of the house. They acted shamelessly, showering with the bathroom open
and using the bathtub as a jacuzzi, letting the hot water run carelessly. The
bathroom had no window, and the smoke looked like a sauna. No one could use the
bathroom for many hours. Most of the time, the police officer was walking
around the house in bikini underwear. The security guard informed the owner of
the problems with the police couple, and it created a lot of tension between
them, and we had to live in a hostile environment. This police officer ate the
food that tenants kept in the refrigerator or kitchen cabinets. We never questioned his misdeeds for fear of
retaliation since he was always drunk and with guns in the room. The thermostat
was a constant problem, the police officer would turn the temperature down and
we had to turn it up due to the cold in our rooms. He would open the skylight
and hide the stick so we couldn't close it. There was no security in the house,
he always left the street door open or unlocked. Due to the chaos that was
experienced at home, the owner held a meeting with all the tenants to establish
rules and conditions. The cop couple used their evil skills to make excuses for
each of their lies and deceive the owner.
HOME # 3
Someone I met on the street sent me to a building called
“Project”. Low-income people live in these buildings. The apartment had 3
bedrooms and was on the 16th floor. The landlady received public assistance.
The housing agency was considering moving her and her husband into a
one-bedroom apartment. To avoid this move, the landlady proposed that I sign a
letter saying that I was her caretaker and needed a room for me. I refused to
contribute to the fraud and rented one of her rooms for $400.00.
The building had poor maintenance.
On my moving day I couldn’t put the boxes of my books on the floor of the
elevator, I had to keep them lifted. The elevator was covered with urine, my
shoes were soaked. The heating wasn’t working in my room, the only window in
the room was almost the size of a wall and the glass was broken. There were
three plants by the window and the space between them was used as a cooler for
water and other foods. My door had no lock because the landlady used to enter
my room to water the plants. The room had no ceiling light, I had to use a table lamp. The landlady had me under constant supervision. When I was cooking,
she was behind me watching and wondering what I was doing. The apartment was
overrun with cockroaches and mice. There was no privacy, I could hear the
constant fights between the landlady and her husband. The husband was an
alcoholic and every day he was drunk; she complained that for drinking at work
he was going to be thrown out. He was also driving his car while he was intoxicated.
One day I came back from New Jersey and found this building
surrounded by police cars. Next to the
entrance was a monument to the dead with lit candles. The walls and the
elevator had written messages; One of them caught my attention. It said: “We mess you up.” I
found out that this man was 23 years old and lived on the 16th floor. The
following week another man was murdered next to the building. I realized that
crime in the area was high on weekends. Every time I looked for parking for my
car, I felt terrified.
SUMMARY HOME # 4
I found in a laundromat an ad about a room for
rent, it was on the sixth floor. The rent was $450.00. The day of my moving was
dramatic, the drunken landlord where I was living stalked me asking where I was
going. One of the elevators was out of service and waiting for the other became
a nightmare for me. I drove around the building to prevent this man from
following me and knowing my new place. Each trip I carried 3 boxes of 32. The
day was rainy, and it made my move worse.
The new landlord was a young man who lived with an
old woman, his fiancée. A few days after my move, he told me about his unhappy
life. He never had children and lived with the old woman out of convenience and
compassion. He met her at the age of 26 and he was younger than two of her 8
children, they had been together for 14 years. She also told me about her
resigned life with a young man. The landlord worked on his own social video
business on weekends. His fiancé accompanied him to help carry the equipment. The
apartment was shared by 7 people. The bathroom was always busy; sometimes I had
to stand by the door waiting for it to be available. The kitchen was the most
disgusting place, cockroaches and mice running everywhere.
The
old lady told me that the mice didn’t bother her since they only eat her food,
mainly tortillas. Mice were in my room day and night. I slept on a
folding bed and often I got out of balance and fell. I decided to sleep on the
floor using a 3-inch-deep mattress. The mice passed by my side; all I could do
was sleep with a shoe in my hand and throw it at them. The housemates were
troublesome and noisy, the apartment looked like a hotel, they came and went 24
hours a day. My biggest fear was looking for parking for my car. I was scammed
by a truck driver who charged me money for an accident that never happened. I
was also bored by the old woman's unfounded jealousy of the landlord towards
me.
SUMMARY HOUSE #5
I went back to Craigslist to find
another place to live. I found a lady who said she lived with her
12-year-old son and ex-fiancé. She
was renting a room for $400.00 and asked for a month's deposit. The day of my
move was very complicated; it was hard for me to get into the apartment with my
book boxes. The hallway was filled with many things, a large rack to dry
clothes, a table with a printer, books, paper, electrical cables on the floor,
etc. The living room was divided into two rooms and one of them was the one for
rent. It had a double bed that was nearly the size of the room, the space for
my clothes and boxes was reduced. It had a walking distance of 2 feet by 5. The
other room was like a closet and only had a bunk bed for children where the
landlady and her son slept. The main room was occupied by a man who was the
landlady's ex-fiancé. At night, people
would sit on the steps of the building to drink, fight, smoke, shout, and play
loud music. Even though my room was on the second floor, I could hear the
noises.
The landlady had decided to go to
college in the morning and have a part-time job in the afternoon. Her son was
injured in a public-school during play time and she had filed a lawsuit. She
told me he was attending a Catholic school because she didn't like her son
meeting with Hispanic or black kids. The boy's father lived in her country and
was the mother's brother-in-law. He was a white man, and his son inherited the
color of the father with the complexion of the mother who had dark skin. One
day when I got home the apartment was dark. Suddenly I found the landlady
sitting at the kitchen table with a lighted candle and crying. She told me she
had money issues, and she might lose the apartment for not paying the rent. She
had to choose between paying rent or overdue electrical services nearly
$760.00. Since May 2014, the ex-fiancé had not helped her enough because he had
four underage children from other relationships. That night I couldn't recharge
my computer or my phone. The next day I felt sick and had to go to the
hospital, when I returned to the apartment, it still had no electricity. I had
to live the month of the deposit and during this time the landlady did not
speak to me and maintained a hostile attitude.
SUMMARY HOME #6
I met a man on the street, who was
working in the neighborhood near the building where I was living. I asked him
if he knew someone who rented a room. He introduced me to a 37-year-old friend,
who was looking for a mature lady because she didn't trust her 17-year-old son
to share the apartment with a young woman. The rent was $500.00. This room was
part of the kitchen and was separated by a thin wall that had a thin piece of
wood as a door. In the back was the room where the teenager slept.
The landlady had split a bunk bed in
which I had one bed and her son the other. She slept in the master room. The
living room was separated by a wall making it two rooms. In one room the son
slept and in the other one 2 of his friends. One of them was a 21-year-old man
who had been expelled from his house. The other man was 19 years old. A few
days after I rented the room, he was taken back to jail for breaking into a
house in Brooklyn. His roommate, 21 years old, was lucky he could run away. The
landlady was an irritable, resentful, arrogant and selfish woman. The
relationship with her son was marked by domestic violence, constant shouting
and cursing. Their lack of respect and loud fights always left me nervously
broken down. This mother was creating a monster in her son who fed his desire
to become a New York police officer. Every day I heard the e blows against the
door as also objects that they threw to the wall or floor to destroy them. TVs,
cell phones, chairs and even a laptop were destroyed by the landlord in a fight
with her son. He did not have television or entertainment because all were
broken by his mother.
Two weeks later, the landlady told me
that her husband, from whom she was separated, would come to the apartment. This
man had no voice or command in the house; their son told me that his father was
like a zero to the left for his mother. His grandmother felt afraid to talk
with the daughter. The fights increased after the husband stayed in the
apartment. The landlady complained that he was an old man 20 years older than
her and suffered from body aches to help with household chores. Finally, she
asked him to return to his country.
SUMMARY HOME# 7
I met a woman on the street and asked
her about a room to rent. The building had no elevator, and the apartment was
located on the 4th floor. I needed to leave the lousy place where I was living
and accepted to take the room despite my medical condition. The landlady told me she was renting
her son's room because he was in jail. He couldn't return home after being
released because he had drug problems. The room was part of the living room and
could not be locked because it had emergency windows. The landlady asked me for
$800.00 for a month's rent plus the deposit.
She lived with a 17-year-old daughter and a troubled tenant who has been
with her for 3 years.
After I moved in, the landlady warned
me that on the 5th floor above my room was living a mentally
troubled boy who walks making noises. She asked me not to complain. I noticed
that the apartment didn’t have showers. The people of the house collected water
into a bucket and with a bowl they took their bath. This was to avoid the landlady’s daughter taking long baths and listening
to music. The toilet paper could not be thrown into the toilet, it had to be
left in an open container, and it was disgusting. Two weeks later I was in
shock. The landlady introduced me to her son who had just been released from
prison. He had an intimidating attitude toward me and asked me to leave his
room where he had his stuff. Since I had paid the month's rent I stayed in the
room until the expiration. The man slept on a sofa in the living room.
One night I was alone with the other
tenant, and she talked about the landlady’s problems. Her son was trafficking
illegal drugs in his room. One day he sold heroin to two undercover
policemen. Later, they arrived at the apartment and went to his room in search
of drugs. The landlady, daughter and son were handcuffed. The mother tried to
resist the arrest and fell to the floor, hurting herself. She used this
incident to file a lawsuit against the police. The next day they were released,
but the son stayed imprisoned. As the landlady was taking public
assistance, she was not permitted to live with her son, but she did it. He was heroin
-addicted and using the bathroom became almost impossible. He spent long hours
sitting on the toilet until he fell asleep. He would leave the syringes in the
bathroom, walk naked in the living room and at night he would scream, sing in
vulgar language, going in and out of the apartment. I found the syringes inside the toilet.
One morning I found him naked in the living room. At night he shouted and sang
in vulgar language. As we sleep very close to each other I have no peace of
mind to sleep. He was in and out of the apartment the entire night.
SUMMARY HOME# 8
It was so hard for me to find a place
to live that I had to go to a rental room agency. This business was really a
travel agency; there was a woman at a desk by the entrance to the office with a
list of rooms for rent. The charge to find the room was a week's rent and had
to be paid in cash. I was sent to different places, most of the rooms were
disappointing and without privacy. One of them was in a hallway with curtains
hanging from the wall. I didn't have many options, but I decided to rent the
least bad one. The room was the living room of a one-bedroom apartment. The
landlady lived with her husband, a 12-year-old daughter, a 17-month-old baby
and a small dog that was mostly of the time inside a closet. The rent was
$500.00.
As always, after moving into a room I
discovered how the people in the house really lived. The master bedroom was
rented to a couple, and the family slept on a full-size futon located in a
small hallway from the entrance to the apartment. It measured 8 feet wide by 16
feet long. There was a flat TV against the wall in the living room and a small
crib in front of the kitchen entrance. When the family was sleeping, it was
difficult to get out the kitchen door. The wife slept with her head next to her
husband's feet and the daughter with her legs over the mother's body. Most of
the time I found the girl with her head hanging from the futon.
I didn’t have enough time to sleep
because of the family noises. The husband worked two jobs and came home around
midnight. At that time the wife would start cooking and the whole family would
be awake until dawn the next day. The baby was not allowed to sleep at night
because the wife slept during the day, both needed to sleep at the same time.
The younger girl used to scream loudly when she wanted something. Many times,
she hit my door with the bottle waking me up. The bathroom was stinky, the dog
poo-poo inside and diapers were all over the floor.
SUMMARY HOME #9
I met a lady from my home country at
a Hispanic parade; her son was a politician seeking a position in the
Bronx. She informed me of a tenant in her
building who rented rooms. This was a lady from Haiti, and she rented me a room
for $500.00. She asked me for a copy of my driver's license, but I hesitated to
give it to her because she didn't want to tell me her real name. She also
informed me that she would not sign me a receipt for rent payment. The room had
no bed, there was a sofa bed, but the landlady told me it belonged to her
daughter, and I couldn't use it. For two weeks I slept in a convertible
armchair and this hurt my back, so I had to buy a bed. There were some
religious items, frames, crosses, and a stand to pray. I asked the landlady
to take her stuff out of my room, I needed space for my belongings, but she
moved out a few things. The apartment looked like a cemetery
full of crosses, some large others small. On weekends the landlady takes
care of her grandson. The baby's chair had a cross and a Bible.
I soon realized that something was
wrong with this woman, she repeated several times facts that had already been
told to me. The first night I was scared when I went to the bathroom, it was
dark and I heard someone snoring in the living room, but I couldn't see anyone.
On the third day, I saw the feet of a man coming out from a sofa. Later, I learned that this person was her
husband. The landlady walked around the house in her underwear, looked like a
big baby with a wet diaper, and showed the shape of her private parts. She
would open my room to go through my belongings. One day I left a container in
the bathroom, and she put it in her room. When I paid the second month's rent,
she asked me for extra money to pay for the overdue utilities which were almost
$700.00. I refused to give her extra money and in retaliation she limited the
use of electricity. The light from the hallway was removed and I had to use a
flashlight to walk among the darkness. The kitchen and the bathroom had a dim
light. She started a chasing attitude towards me; she locked the door to force
me to ring the bell. Every day the persecution of the landlady became more
intense, she stood by my room door to listen to my telephone conversations.
She turned off the cold water and I often
burned my body when showering, she also removed the head’s shower and she left
inside the bathtub containers full of clothes. She would open the bathroom door when
I was using it. One day her husband told me about the difficulties of living
with his wife. I visited the lady who introduced me to the landlady I was
dealing with, to tell her about the horrible situation I was experiencing. She
offered to rent part of her living room for $500.00. It was an open space near
the windows and heaters; I needed to divide it with a wall and leave a space
for her to have part of her living room.
SUMMARY HOME #10
On October 12, I bought four folding doors of plastics and materials to make a
wall in my new landlady living room. The super of the building charged me $
250.00 for labor. This small space cost me $642. 21
and it was the only way I could have a room. The landlady had the master
bedroom; her mess was impressive. most of her stuff was on the floor all over
the room, it seemed like a pig house, dirty and there was no space to walk
through. She had 2 rooms rented, one by
his niece and the other by a lesbian. The niece controlled the apartment,
had an intimidating attitude and made her aunt's life hell; There was no
respect between them.
Neither the landlady nor the niece
cooked. Many times, I heard the landlady ask about the food she had kept in the
fridge and the niece denied that she had eaten it. The lesbian and I couldn't
have anything in the fridge because they ate it. We hid some groceries in the
room, since I didn't have a lock, I used a trunk with a key. One day I was sick
and made soup, I left it on top of the stove while cooling. The shameless
family ate it up without my permission. Sleeping in the living room near the
kitchen was very unpleasant, there were a lot of mice running from the kitchen
to my room. The superintendent charged me $6.00 to put
a lamina under each of the two radiators of the living room where the mice were
hiding. The landlord warned me that if I pay for the radiators that are in my
room, I will have to pay for the 10 radiators that are in the apartment. The
lesbian tenant moved out of the apartment, and I was sad, she was the only
honest and respectful person with whom I shared the apartment. She suggested that I ask for her room, although it was very small,
it had a door and walls.
The super wanted to remove the
division he installed in the living room; he did not want to have problems with
the owner of the building; the division was illegal. The landlady frequently
called NY City to complain about the problems of the building. The rent of the
new room was $ 600.00, and I took it. Then she wanted to keep
the division to find someone and rent the space. I had paid for this, so I agreed with the
Super to remove it, this angered the landlady. My life in this house became
more and more impossible every day, especially with the niece's unpleasant
attitude. One day she yelled at me and tried to touch my face with her middle
finger while cursing. She was hysterical and asked me to move out of the
apartment.
SUMMARY HOME # 11
I was with a friend, and we met a lady during a
political event, I asked if she knew anyone who had a room for rent. She
immediately invited us to her apartment which was on the first floor of the
event headquarters building. The apartment was a little messy, she told us she
does not sleep in the bedroom and preferred the living room. She told us that she had just ended a 24-year
relationship and wanted to resume her life to be devoted to church. At
first glance I had a good impression of this woman and rented her bedroom for
$500.00.
I soon realized that I had been wrong in the
concept I had of my landlady. This was a woman with mental health problems,
with manic episodes, schizophrenia, depression, drug addiction and sexual
aberration. Her fiancé kept coming to the apartment and they had violent
fights. She didn't sleep more than 3 hours, and she spent a lot of time on the
street. I couldn't go to the kitchen to avoid seeing sex scenes with unknown
men. At the beginning she asked me for $1.00, then $.50 cents, 25 cents. then
any change. One day I was in shock when I got home and found
the landlady unconscious sitting on the couch. Her younger sister was trying to
revive her, she told me in tears that she didn't know what to do, she didn't
want to call an ambulance. She blamed her ex for her madness. The next day, the
landlady told me that she felt depressed and tired of working for the Church.
The relationship with the priest seemed diabolical to her because she felt the
desire to see him at dawn to have sex.
On September 11, 2016, I heard a violent
fight. The landlady tried to hit her ex-fiancé by breaking a glass table. The
pieces were all over the apartment. The explosion was terrible, and I went out
into the street scared. The cleaning man who lives in the basement heard the knock
and told me that this woman generated dangerous situations, she had public
assistance, and the men abused her. In the bathroom I found pills and open
bottles. These are some medicines. DIVALPROEX sodium
is sometimes used together with other seizure medications. Divalproex sodium is
also used to treat manic episodes related to bipolar disorder (manic
depression), and to prevent migraine headaches. QUETIAPINE, marketed
as Seroquel, is an atypical antipsychotic approved for the treatment of
schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and along with an antidepressant to treat
major depressive disorder. It is also sometimes used as a sleep aid because of
its sedating effect but this use is not recommended.
SUMMARY HOME #12
On October 10, 2016, I went to
a Mexican grocery store and saw a piece of paper with a phone number that said
about a room for rent. I met Lucy, 57, and Mario, her young husband. They had
rented the first floor of a house. Lucy asked me for $1,000.00 to move into a
room, this included one month's rent and deposit. The room had no bed, and the
door was made of transparent plastic with a curtain. Next door was another room
rented to a 25-year-old Korean student. The first day Lucy showed me the room
for rent, she opened the Korean student's door for me to see how messy it was.
He paid $600.00 rent including $100.00 for cleaning. Lucy and Mario married in
2015 as soon as they discovered cancer in Mario. This man through public
assistance for the treatment of cancer began a process to legalize his
immigration status in the United States. Lucy expected to obtain her residence
through him. The Chemotherapy ruined Mario’s intimate functions and they lived
in separate rooms. The homeowner was a blind man who lived in the basement, he
was married but his wife had a traveling job and came home twice a month. His
sister was taking care of the house and managed the rented rooms on the second
floor.
One day I met Lucy, and another
second-floor tenant named Alexa. I was shocked when Lucy proudly told us what
she had done with a previous tenant. This was a single woman with a young kid,
Lucy didn’t get along with her and asked to vacate the room. The tenant had
difficulties finding another place to live. Lucy had gone to a doctor to remove
2 moles (skin growth) located on each side of the neck. She took advantage of
this medical procedure to scratch the scar until bleeding, then called the
police saying that the tenant had beaten her up. She made a false report
so the tenant could not enter the apartment. At night when the tenant came home
the police arrested her. Lucy enjoyed seeing the tenant lying on the ground,
handcuffed and her son crying. The police escorted the tenant to pick her stuff
up. This evil action was left unpunished.
THE
MOST INFAME EXTORTION.
Lucy was taking care of a boy named
"Carlitos". She used the boy to extort a 27-year-old man for money. deceiving him with
false paternity and motherhood. This man met her when he was 17 years old
making pizza deliveries. Although the couple seemed like mother and son, they
had a clandestine romance over the years.
Lucy told Oscar that she was
expecting a baby from him. Oscar believed it because he knew her husband
couldn’t have any intimate relationship. Lucy told him that she was going to
Mexico for the time of her pregnancy and will come back near the time the baby
was born. Oscar believed this despicable action and gave Lucy all the money he
had in his savings account to cover the baby’s expenses. The child's mother was
unaware of what was happening with her son. She was a single mother with two
girls and the boy's father didn't care about him because he was a married man.
For periods of time due to Lucy's difficulties to share time with Oscar, she
tells him that she had to send their son to Mexico and ask for Oscar money.
Lucy promised Oscar that when her husband Mario died, she would take care of
his illegal immigration status and would share the benefits she might have from
her deceased husband.
The times I saw the boy sitting alone
in the kitchen broke my heart, he was always scared. The boy was forced to call
his fake parent’s mom and dad. The alleged father was proud to display photos
of his alleged son on Facebook. One night Lucy was taking a shower and minutes
later, when she went to her room, I heard a violent fight. Oscar was beating
Lucy while breaking her things. The next day, Alexa arrived at the apartment
and Lucy spoke to her. I was shocked when Alexa told me that Mario found Lucy cheating
on him. Oscar made a call, and Mario took the cell phone, they didn't have any
conversation, but Mario began to review all of Oscar's calls and text messages.
He found photos of the boy having fun with him and Lucy. Mario forbade Lucy
bringing the child into the house, but she did so in secret. The boy's mother
had financial trouble paying Lucy and decided not to bring him anymore.
Although Lucy reduced the amount of the payment, the mother did not accept it.
Lucy went out of her way to charge me
an extra $100.00 for cleaning the house. She wanted the bathroom cleaned with
pure Chlorine. I refused to use it because it causes me a terrible reaction and
irritates my eyes. I offered her other chemical liquids mixed with chlorine
that were not too strong, but she did not accept. Mario had a repulsive medical
condition in his throat; he would accumulate a secretion and then throw it on
the zinc. Many times, I felt nauseous when going to the bathroom.
The relationship between my landlords
and the homeowner turned into fights. Mario tried to get a lot of money for the
repairs he made to the house. The homeowners offered me a room on the second
floor, and I accepted. Alexa advised me that Lucy wanted to hurt me and asked
her to do it by throwing me down the stairs if I rented a room from the
homeowner. Next day I went to a Civil Court to make a complaint about the
threats from Lucy, but the court ruled my case without merit. Then, I went to a
Criminal Court to set a precedent if something happened to me. The answer was
the same that the police gave me, a crime is necessary to act. I only obtained a letter stating my visit to the Court.
The day of my moving to the second
floor Lucy decided to bathe the apartment in pure Clorox and burned something
stinky in the kitchen, the smoke was everywhere. I opened my room window, and
she yelled at me asking to close it. When I finished moving, I went to New
Jersey to spend the weekend.
SUMMARY HOME # 13
On Monday, March 13, 2017,
when I arrived home, the police came looking for me. Lucy had called them
saying that I had gone to her door cursing her, she accused me of stealing her
keys and some knives from the kitchen. She asked the police to take me out of
the house because she feared for her life. The homeowner came and talked to the
police on my behalf. This time her evil trick didn't work out and her demand
was unsuccessful. On the second floor
the living room was divided into two rooms, in one of them lived Alexa with her
mentally ill 35-year-old son. Next to this room was a large room with curtains
hanging on the wall. This space was occupied by a woman and 2 daughters, one 12
years old and the other 4 years old. The homeowner was their mentor and
included them in his taxes. He also helps them obtain refugee visas. On the
other side of the house were two small rooms; one rented by a mailman for 5
years and the other mine, my rent was $500.00.
The mailman and I became friends to
fight against the misdeeds of the tenant who lived with two daughters, she was
his enemy. He told me that my room was unoccupied for a long time because the
previous tenant died there. The homeowner's brother-in-law took the corpse of
this man to the park and sat him on a bench. This way his death appeared to be
caused by a heart attack while he was in the park and the house would not be
investigated. When I heard this story, my skin became "goose
bumps". The mailman was not happy living in the house, he felt that
the owner took advantage of his situation, he paid $750.00 for the rent of the
bed and the room. In addition, the homeowner rented him a phone for $25.00 a
month and it was damaged. These phones were given free of charge to people with
public assistance. The homeowner's sister lent him money at 40% interest, he
had a debt of $3,000.00. I witnessed some transactions that the two of them
recorded on paper
The tenant and her 2 daughters took
the apartment as their property to make life miserable for the other tenants. I
heard rumors that the homeowner was pretending to be a blind person. He would
go to the girls' room and lie on the bed to watch TV with them. The mother went
to the basement where he lived to massage his legs, several times he was caught
without underwear. His wife was aware of this situation, but she did not care
since he had given her the house. The 12-year-old has been raising her younger
sister since she was 8 years old, beating her as punishment with everything she
could get her hands on. The girls spent most of their time alone, behaved
badly, were spoiled and disrespectful to everyone in the house. They listened
to no one; the mother turned a deaf ear to any complaint about her daughters.
She would leave food on the stove or in the oven for two or three days.
Cockroaches piled up on the food and mice ate from it. The kitchen was a mess
full of flies. On October 17, 2017, I received a call from the
homeowner's sister informing me that when she went to collect the rent from the
mailman, she found him dead. The room had a pestilent smell due to the rot of its
body; the worms ran down the wall and came out under the door. She deduced that
he was dead in his bed for at least two weeks, his face was skeleton. The
girls' mother posted this unfortunate event on her Facebook.
SUMMARY HOME # 14
I walked around a church and found a man coming out
to pray. He informed me of someone who rented a room. This was a one-bedroom
apartment, and I rented a 6 x 8 foot space from a 15-foot living room for $500.00. The back wall had 2 large
broken windows that on snowy days would enter the room. To open and close the
windows, I had to crawl over the mattresses bouncing on the bed. Behind the
headboard of the bed was a damaged heater the size of the bed. It was off due
to excessive heat for such a tight space. Under this radiator the mice had their
burrow, and it was difficult to catch them due to the lack of space to move
things. The living room was divided by a thin wall that allowed me to hear
everything from the landlady's side that was her entertainment place. She had a
large TV on the wall connected to the music with speakers that when she used it
the wall vibrated. At the exit of my room there was a glass display case with
liquor bottles. There was a sofa, a tea table and a chair that I had to move
back and forth to enter the room. Between the dividing wall and my bed was 2
feet. The trunk where I kept my things
left me only 9 inches in walking distance. The apartment
was completely crowded, even behind the exit door.
Most of the time the
landlady maintained a strange attitude towards me, she seemed annoyed by my
presence, it was clear that she wanted total privacy, and I was in her way. The landlady always locked the apartment with a chain at any
time of the day or night, she told me that it was as a precaution, to avoid
being surprised by her ex who let her live in the apartment. I had to call or
text her to open the door for me. Sometimes she wouldn't hear the phone because
of the music she was listening to, and I had to wait for a long time. On January
4, 2018, a snowstorm called "BOMB CYCLONE" for high winds
and low temperatures, entered my room, throwing snow through a broken window. I
couldn't have any protection and had to tear a jacket to pieces to cover the
holes in the window. In addition to this miserable life, the
man from the church who brought me to the apartment became my stalker. He
searched for a sentimental relation which I was not interested in. Many times,
I saw his car behind my car waiting for me to get out of the building. On
weekends when I returned from New Jersey he asked where I was or where I parked
because he couldn’t find my car around the building.
SUMMARY HOME # 15
One of my neighbors informed me that one of the tenants on the
first floor was renting out her studio bedroom. The living room had a built-in
kitchen, a dining table, two bicycles, a TV, and a refrigerator. On a sofa bed
the landlady slept. She asked me for $6,00.00 for one month's rent plus the
$600.00 deposit. I offered her $300.00 for the deposit and she accepted.
The bedroom had 2 beds, 4 bedside tables, and a dresser between
the beds. I didn't ask why there was so much furniture inside the room, I
assumed that when I moved in she was going to take it out. A day before my moving, the landlady asked me which bed I
would choose to sleep in. I replied that any bed was the same for me, she
immediately told me that she would sleep in the other bed. I was shocked when she
told me that the room was for sharing. I
did not accept the offer and asked her to take her things out of the room or
return my money. My decision caused an argument between us, she claimed that by
having the room only for me, I took ownership of the apartment. Since she
didn't want to give me my money back, she had no choice but to leave me alone
in the room. She left the furniture inside.
At night, when I was moving, the landlady complained because I had
too many things. She walked into the room like crazy and said that the room was
going to be very crowded. She warned me that the room must be very clean and
organized. She didn't give me the key to the room and restricted the
electricity by turning off the light, she would get angry if I stayed up late
at night using a low voltage light bulb.
The apartment was very dark, with no ventilation because the windows
were blocked out. It was hard for me to cook even breakfast because she was on
the couch supervising me.
By the end of the month, I was
surprised by the landlady. She told me that one of her previous clients, a man
she provided home care for, supported her financially. She was going to her
country for one month and a half, this man had the apartment’s key and could
come whenever he wanted to. Her strategy to get money for her vacation worked
out for her. She knew through my previous landlady that I was an honest person
that wouldn't steal her belongings.
SUMMARY HOME # 16
On July 06, 2019, I
returned to the building at 2665 Grand Concourse Bronx, NY to meet the Super
Francis. We had a meeting in the basement where he lived. After knowing my
financial situation, he assured me that I qualified for a studio apartment, and
he was also a friend of the owner and would use his influence to help me. He
informed me that by mid-July 2019, two studios would be unoccupied, one on the
third floor and the other on 8. He showed me the third floor; the tenant who
lived there opened the door for us. The super called one of his friends who
lived on the 7th floor who had a small room for rent. The landlady asked
for $800.00 rent, but with the help of the super down to $600.00. The
super asked me for a $150.00 commission, so we went to the bank to withdraw the
money. Three days later he asked to lend him $100.00. This loan was never repaid, although I made
attempts to collect it.
The room was technically a walk-in
closet. The room had a sink and a toilet; I could not have a key because the
landlady used the sink to brush her teeth. She gave me a small area in the
fridge for my food. The kitchen was disgusting. The stove had pots on top that
should be in the same position after cooking, no microwaves or any electrical
appliances were allowed. There were 2 large rooms rented to two men, one of them named Samuel on the day of my move, told me this landlady is
worse than the devil. By her lifestyle somehow, I agreed with him, but I
believed the promises of the super that I would be there only for a few weeks. Indeed,
this landlady was a demanding and harassing woman. His strange lifestyle was
out of being a normal person. She wouldn't let lights on and lived in the dark.
She didn't allow any windows to open, and the apartment smelled awful due to
lack of ventilation. Her bedroom was the dining room and from her bed she observed who was in the kitchen and how long. My room was in front of her.
I cooked rice and eggs in my bathroom.
Samuel constantly had strong disagreements with the
landlady. He had threatened to report
her to Social Services if she threw him out of the house. She received over
$2,000.00 in rent living on public assistance.
She only paid $553.51 in rent. The landlady said he was angry with her
because she didn't marry him to obtain legal residency in the country. He
brought women into the house and this bothered the landlady. I discovered by
myself that Samuel was an abusive and disrespectful man. One day he kissed my
shoulders as he came out of the kitchen, and I entered my room. Another day he
pushed me against the wall to touch my chest. I reacted violently and walked
away shouting at him and asking him for respect. The man who rented the other
room was allied with the landlady and was an enemy of Samuel. I observed
strange events by this man's door that distressed me. It seemed that they came
from evil rituals. Every day different things appeared on the ground such as
crosses, cards, bible, glasses, bottles, leaves, etc. The bathroom had no lock, only the door could
be closed, it was next to this mysterious man's room.
SUMMARY HOME # 17
The superintendent of the building where I always wanted to rent
an apartment recommended me to one of his friends who had a room to rent. I
needed a place to live, and I accepted this apartment on a second floor and
without an elevator. I had to climb 26 steps. As I entered the building, I
noticed the strong smell of marijuana. The apartment was in front of the area
where garbage and recyclables were stored, and many flies entered. The landlady
rented me the master bedroom, and it was full of furniture and many things from
her. The landlady and her 86-year-old mother slept in a small space
that was the dining room. The living room was divided into two rooms, one of
which was where the landlady's brother, 55 years old, slept, and the other part
was the living room. Some days, a
72-year-old woman would help care for the mother and stay with the family.
There was a camera in front of my room. The landlady asked for weekly payments
of $150.00 and a deposit of $150.00. The night of my move was a nightmare.
I started moving at 6:30 pm. I offered the landlady's
brother $50.00 to help me get my things into the room. He refused to help me
and instead watched me from the living room as I was struggling with the move.
It was hard for me to wait for the elevator on the seventh floor, get things
down to the lobby, cross a busy street and then carry them up to the second
floor in a heavy shopping cart. The pain in my legs was intense and intolerable. The
landlady complained that it was late at night, and I should hurry. She told me
that her mother went to bed early and she worked the next day. Her job was a
lady-in-waiting for an elderly person, she started at 5:30 p.m. and returned at
8:00 a.m. the next day, 3 days a week. I made my last trips dragging my stuff because
I could hardly walk. When I finished moving, the landlady warned me not to make
noises because she didn't want complaints from the neighbors.
The next day at 5:30 am the noises from the recycling and
trash collection woke me up. A lot of flies came into the room. The distrustful
attitude of the landlady's brother stressed me out more and more every day. He
would put marks on toilet paper and other personal items to see if I used them.
He hid behind my back to see if I used the things in the house. He would sit in
a strategic area waiting until I came out of the bathroom. My arrival at the
building was annoying: I had to walk among the people who sat at the entrance
to smoke marijuana, listen to music and talk loudly.
SUMMARY HOME 18
This housing experience is the last and worst
as a tenant of a room. I lived in a chain of corruption made by the people surrounding
me.
The super Francis from building
2665 Grand Concourse Bronx informed me that one of his friends was renting a
room on the third floor where the studio I wanted to rent was located, 3L. Mrs.
Flor Tascano rented me a room in apartment 3H for $600.00. This time the Super charged
me $100.00 commission and Mrs. Tascano $50.00. He forgot that he never paid me
the $100.00 I had lent him. It was easy for me to check if the 3L studio was
rented. The door didn't have a top lock, and I could see inside through the
hole. This apartment had 3 bedrooms. Two were rented to the landlady’s cousins María
and Luis who were siblings, the other room was mine. Mrs. Tascano converted the
living room into two bedrooms, one for herself and the other for her
13-year-old son; the hallway turned into the living room with furniture that
was left a short walking distance. The window of the fire escape was blocked
and the apartment was left very dark and without ventilation. On the first day
of my move I met Maria, she was not happy to meet me and gave me a hostile
welcome. Mrs. Tascano did not have an additional key to the entrance of the
building, nor to the apartment. Maria refused to lend me her key.
On the third day I used the
kitchen for the first time. I was cooking a piece of chicken when suddenly
Maria came out of her room upset and acting crazy sprayed the entire apartment
with strong spray, including the kitchen and my food. I had to throw it away. I
spoke with Mrs. Tascano and she asked me for patience because Maria had a bad
temper. The lease for the apartment was in the name of Mrs. Tascano and her
ex-husband, although he did not live with her, and they were separated. The
super asked me to meet him in the basement to get the copy of the key to the
building, but this was a hoax, he wanted $200.00. According to him, he had to
pay the people who worked in the building. One day I was shocked when I saw a
man leave the 3L studio supposedly I would rent it. The Super told me that the
man was a friend who slept there temporarily so that he would have extra money.
On November 16, 2019,
Luis knocked on my door saying that he had to tell me something, but when his
sister came out of the kitchen and entered her room. I
let him into my room thinking he wanted to tell me something about his sister. He
sat in a chair, and I sat on the edge of the bed. His first question surprised
me. He asked me how long it had been since I had an orgasm. I refused to
answer, he opened his phone and showed me a woman's butt saying she was his
inspiration. He told me that since he left his country Dominican Republic, more
than a year he had not had sex. I asked him to stop talking to me about sex because
I was not interested. He started making fun of me by saying that an old lady
like me can have a lot of orgasms with a 40-year-old man like him. I asked him
to leave my room, but he refused. I stopped talking to him, I felt nervous and
frightened, my face blushed when I saw his penis raised in a tiny pajama; it
was evident that he had no underwear. He laughed at me saying my face was red
because I was excited. Suddenly he came up to me to rub his penis on my arm, I
could feel his erection and intentions to rape me. I pushed him out of my body
asking to leave my room. He returned to the chair where he was sitting saying
he would go soon. Minutes later he came back to me clutching my face to kiss
me. I pushed him back asking him to get his hands off me. I got up and walked
around my room; then he asked me if I would allow him to masturbate in front of
me. I told him not to even try to show me his genitals. Next day I talked to
Ms. Tascano about the sexual attack of Luis towards me. She was in shock even
though she knew her cousin was a womanizer, but she didn’t take any action. I
went to the police station, and they suggested that I go to court and file a
complaint. I went to the Bronx Court to seek help, but my efforts to find
justice were unsuccessful. They sent me to several offices, and no one could
help me. At the Office of the District Attorneys Bronx County, I spoke with a
lady Assistant District for child abuse and sex crimes. I gave her a writing
report and pictures. The pandemic started and I lost contact with her.
Luis's harassment continued. He
took showers with the door open; my room was between the bathroom and his room.
When I opened my door, he was naked in front of it half-naked. He walked with a
small towel covering his genitals and sometimes it was about to fall. He waited
for the moment when I was alone in the kitchen washing the dishes to come up to
me and pushed me towards the sink. His
shorts were almost in the middle of his buttocks, and it was obvious that he
was not wearing underpants.
I decided to tell Ms. Tascano's
ex-husband about the hell I was living at home with Luis. This broke my
relationship with her, she became enraged with me for revealing her cousin's
actions and resorted to fraudulent and criminal actions to throw me out of the
house. However, on January 31, 2020, she confronted Luis with me, and he
admitted that he had attacked me sexually. Ms Tacano and Maria told me that the
court had given them a paper to file a lawsuit against me. She complained that
her 13-year-old son could not sleep because he was afraid that I was going to
kill him and her. The mental manipulation and the hate that the mother put over
him to go against me began to take effect on August 17, 2020. I was in the
kitchen, and he lifted a flashlight and pointed the light at me in a clear act
of hatred and threat.
On February 29, 2020,
Ms. Tascano began using letters and people saying they were coming from the
court to harass me with eviction, even though I had paid the month and had no
back rent. Mrs. Tascano removed the lamp
from the ceiling on purpose, to leave the hallway and apartment very dark. I
had to walk carefully so as not to find Luis and bump into him in the dark. I
ate canned food to avoid going to the kitchen where he sat for a long time.
On August 24, 2020,
Ms. Tascano had intentions to hurt me physically. She brought a sofa to block
the exit to the apartment and the kitchen, leaving less than a foot to pass. I
had to walk in the dark, suddenly I tripped over the couch breaking a glass jug
with water and hurt my knee. I didn't go to the hospital because of
Covid-19 precautions and had to tolerate the pain without medication. The
family used the smoke detector alarm to harass me, they burned food to set off
the smoke alarm. The noise, the smoke, walking in the dark, and knowing that
there was no way to escape terrified me. The fire escape was blocked with a
wall and the door with a key.
Ms. Tascano often set off the
fire alarm by burning food to harass me. I had to run out of my room in the
darkness and smoke and as soon as she saw me, she would start screaming: We
are burning! We are burning! Triggering the smoke alarm became a habit.
I reported the situation to the NY Fire department. They
removed the wall and the door that Ms. Tascano made to separate the living room
from the hallway. The coexistence became worse, we had police visits. The
cousins moved out without me noticing. The Super removed the lock on my door
stating that it was a New York City order because rented rooms are not allowed
to have the door with a key.
On December 15,
2020, I got the Covid-19 with severe symptoms. I had to go to the hospital,
then stay locked up in my room for a week surrounded by enemies.
Ms. Tascano rented
Luis's room to two African American men; in a strange way they began to make
the move on the night of a storm. They brought stinky bags. One man was an
adult and the other a teenager. They spoke only English, and the Super was the
mediator because Mrs. Tascano does not speak English. Ms. Tascano, taking advantage of the eviction
moratorium, moved out of the apartment and the same day she rented the room to
a man who brought women to the house. The curtained living room was rented to a
man with mental problems. I had a hard time recognizing these men because of the
darkness of the apartment and the masks they wore, I never knew how many lived
in the apartment. I could only see the silhouette of their bodies. They were cannabis smokers and due to the
lack of ventilation the apartment was stinky, and I could barely breathe.
Ms. Tascano filed a lawsuit
against me for $9,600.00 in Small Claims Civil Court without giving me copies
of the evidence that supports her claim. I refused a mediation because this
case was not just a matter of my eviction it also was matter of sexual assault,
harassment, intimidation, physical and emotional damage. The case was
dismissed, and the judge gave me two months to leave the apartment. So, I did,
and I started another terrible housing story as a homeless person.
