Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY – A dispute over a home with a deadbeat tenant in Crown Heights has led to violent incidents which were caught on camera on Monday.
The house at 964 Park Place was purchased by a Lubavitch businessman in 2015, and was occupied by a tenant at the time.
The tenant paid rent for the first few months, and then stopped paying altogether, for over 6 years, the homes owner told COLlive.com.
“The tenant tied us up in court for 6 years, finding every legal loophole possible” the owner said. We offered to put her up in a hotel for some time, or to cover some of her rent in a new location and meals, to help her until she works things out, but she refused he said.
With each proceeding, the tenant was unsuccessful, and was required to vacate the home. In January, with the moratorium on evictions expired, the tenant was finally legally evicted last week, with the New York City Marshalls in attendance.
During the ensuing dispute over the tenants eviction, a local protest activist group took up the cause, and has been protesting loudly outside the home.
After the tenant was evicted, the angry mob of protesters broke into the home, allowing the tenant illegal access once again, the owner told COLlive. They also blocked us, the legal owners from entering the property.
The owners arrived on Monday to find approximately 70 protesters outside the home, protesting “Greedy Jewish Landlords”.
The police were called, and they attempted to break up the violence, however they were unsuccessful in helping the rightful Jewish owners access to their own home.
“The police are unwilling to help us, because they say they are afraid the protesters will riot and there will be much violence”, the frustrated owner told COLlive. “We have no recourse here and no way to resolve this, since these are violent people who have socialist views against us and the police” he said.
A group of Lubavitch Yeshiva bochurim, who live in a dorm a few houses down the street, attempted to assist the Jewish owners by accompanying him into the home. They were also unsuccessful in stopping the violent, angry mob from vacating the property.
For now, the owner has no choice but to wait for the police to act and to attempt to get help from our local elected officials.
