EVICTING THE ELDERLY, MS. SEMILETOV AND HER CATS

Here I am again, piggy backing on a New York Post article on Landlord harassment.

 It's no secret that the elderly are easy to evict. They get scarred of legal papers, don't have the strength to get to court on 100 center Street or just can't endure the stress. This is the case of Marianne Semiletov.  She is 73 and her landlord, C. Gershon Co. has filed for eviction because ,"she is a nuisance, dumps her cat litter down the toilet, enters other tenants apartments, and is living is dirty and grimy conditions".

Whether these accusations are true or not is really irrelevant. The purpose here is to get Ms. Semiletov to court and STRESS her out! That means that Ms. Semiletov has to take the subway and the bus and go down to housing court for 8:30 in the morning and THEN sit in a courtroom for two or three hours until her name is called.  

And if that's not enough stress for an elderly woman, the first time Ms.Semiletov gets in front of a Clerk  the case will probably be adjourned and Ms. Semiletov will probably had to go to housing court three or four times before she even gets in front of a judge.

Most elderly will never be able to make that journey due to the and anxiety and stress alone and quickly fold under the stress.  And even if they CAN afford a lawyer (for $250.00 an hr) they STILL have to appear physically in court.

 But the LANDLORDS? The actually owners of the building?

They will probably NEVER have to inconvenience themselves. While Ms. Semiletov may have to cancel a vacation or take time off her physio-therapy to appear in court the LANDLORD will NEVER have to show up. The owner of the building will simplY send out lawyers to represent himself./herself.

Lets change this law. HOW ABOUT THIS?.

IF A LANDLORD IS GOING TO SUE MY ASS OR ANYBODY ELLSES  THEY BETTER BE REQUIRED TO SHOW UP TO COURT.

Joseph John Holosko loving father of Karina Holosko

To: Joseph John Holosko

Hey Dad, 

I was Krazy Gluing a head that broke off of one of my Kick Ass Angels that I accidentally stepped on and I thought of you. You loved your Krazy glue and when it came out on the market you tested it on everything. Once we broke an expensive tea cup just to see if it would glue back together. We used too much glue and we expected it to work too fast and this produced crazy results. We had to use your go-to-glue, Rubber Cement to fix the problem. 

I remember helping you at your workbench in the dark basement of our house. I practiced the piano, you worked on the lathe twisting the wood til it was so curvy that it was ready to be placed on the top of the grandfather clock that you made for me.  

One night after piano practice I met you at your bench in the damp basement. Any place was better than the upstairs where the abuse and the swearing and the spitting and the yelling of your very sick wife lived.

We decided it was time to glue that piece that you made on the lathe onto the top of the clock.  Like me you put on too much glue and expected it too work too fast. Then you turned to me and said, "We are barking up the wrong tree, we have to slow down. Hold your horses!" So we took a minute to let our glue catastrophe settle and then put just a small drop and held it gently in place. 

 I thought of you and I "held my horses" and  put just a drop of glue on my angels neck to hold her head in place. It was just enough Krazy glue, not too much  and I patiently held it gently for awhile just like you taught me.

As the head my angel became one with her body my love for you soared through my soul. Who would think that gluing on the head of an Kick-Ass angel would make me think of you. 

Dad, you are my Kick Ass Angel and I can feel you with me.

Happy father's day! From your little girl.. the apple of your eye.

Below. See Joseph John Holosko as a young boy in the far right. From right to left his brother Emil, his sister Stella Staley and (a sponsored relative my grandfather brought from Ukrainian). My grandmother, and my grandfather.

P.S Whoever has that clock please know that it was a labor of love between a daughter and her father. Even though the object is not with me the love shines through. Tick -tock goes the Grandfather clock.

BISON MURDER NY Post 4/25/15

HERD OF 10 BISON killed in ALBANY .... AND A BABY!!!!

 

Shame on you Gator Killer!

Seems like every year a beautiful specimin of an animal is killed. This soul was 719lbs. He was an ancient breeder and a survivor. I said it last year and i will say it again. Shame on the hunter that killed this Gator!

Do you Need KICK ASS ANGEL this XMAS? WRITE TO ME

Hi everyone, This year I am making KICK ASS angles for Xmas. Did someone mess you up? Did someone do you wrong? Do you need and angel to KICK their ASS?  

PLEASE write to me and let me know why you need a KICK ASS ANGEL. I will make you your own personal angel and read your letter online for free!

Kaci Hickox an Ebola Virus Lawsuit? You have got to be Kidding!

TRUE STORY:

A very brave Nurse  named Kaci  Hickox, comes back to The States after working with Ebola patients in West Africa. The nurse is quarantined. And guess what? Thankfully she is NOT infected. But unbelievably Kaci Hickox is angling for a LAWSUIT?  WHAT? WHAT? WHAT?  

Apparently Kaci is considering suing the government for violating HER rights?

What about MY right NOT to get infected?

And what  if  God forbid she was in fact infected with the virus.Would it be violating her rights to treat her?

Shame on you Kaci and your lawyers!  GROW UP!

We are at war with a virus. And when you are at war sometimes peoples rights are affected .

If this nonsense is allowed to proceed then what will prevent people from faking the virus just to get in on the legal action?

We are all in this together. Let's start acting together.

SHUT THE BORDERS make QUARINTINE MANDITORY. 


P.S.     Apparently according to CNN there are some people, who are currently at risk for infection, and have arbitrarily decided to act totally irresponsible and take a casual subway rides. WHERE is your common sense?

If we can't protect ourselves then the government must step in and protect us.  

Another nurse with EBOLA. Quarantine the Hospital

THIS IS SERIOUS. LETS GET SERIOUS   

 

 WATCH DALLAS OVER THE NEXT 21 days.

A little Joke for the day! Oct 15th, 2014

Slumlords in NYC... as of October 2014

THANK YOU!!!! Daily News, for bringing this slumlord issue to light in NYC.  These landlords get away with murder.  And WHY? The judges in Housing Court are totally LAX when it comes to forcing  landlords to make repairs. But watch out tenant, if your late for the rent the HOUSING COURT judges will swiftly put you out on the street!

The landlords in the article in the October 12th newspaper have gone for years neglecting their tenants and allowing them languish in intolerable living conditions. Really serious stuff like rat infestations, no working gas, electricity, hanging electrical wiring, broken stairs and elevators, lead paint and asbestos issues are just a few examples.  This state of tenancy is demoralizing, degrading, stressful and terrifying. 

WHAT KIND OF individual says to themselves, "I understand that your kids are living with led paint but I don't give a SH**.

This is what I call  "Landlord Mentality". It's an us and them mentality. ME BIG IMPORTANT LANDLORD you lowly expendable  TENANT. 

Tenants live in fear in New York City and in some cases to ask for simple repairs gets a tenant on landlord radar. Once on landlord radar you are good as evicted.

The landlord says:

"Raise your head little tenant and I will hire my bully lawyers to put you and your family out on the street. I will ruin your credit and I will put you on a blacklist so you can never rent again. Then on the months left on your lease I will hunt you down and sue you for the money long after your gone".

 

AND I SAY:

 "Shame on you HOUSING COURT and shame on you Robin Shimoff, Rawle Isaacs, Joseph Podolski, Bashkim Celaj and Yechiel Weinberger. Have you ever thought that MAYBE you're in the WRONG business? YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS dealing with the home and safety of other people...YOU ARE FIRED!"

Ebola Close the Boarders Part 1 by Kay Hall, aka Karina Holosko

This is a 9 part series on my thoughts, reflections and facts that I've learned about the Ebola Virus. I believe that the best course of action is to close the boarders from these countries until we have this under control.

 

 Over the next 21 days we need to watch Dallas for people, that Duncan (a Liberian citizen) infected on his journeys to and from the various emergency rooms in the area. The next 21 days will give us crucial information on the rapidity with which this virus can spread

It is the most virulent and dangerous strain of this virus and it is the first time in the history of this planet that we have ever seen something like this. (PBS NEWS)

Swift action, severe action and yes temporarily painful action will save American lives.  

 

 

 

Ebola Solutions SHUT ALL BOARDERS

Hey there, after two days of intensive research. I have created 10 videos of my thoughts and facts that I have gathered on this virus.  The first video was taken on October 6th before the Dallas thing (whatever that was) took place.  The rest of the nine are as follows;.. Enjoy!.

MY SUGGESTION?  STOP all flights to and from the countries with the outbreaks. Dramatic???? YES.

But so is this virus. According to PBS news this is "the worst outbreak in the history of the planet." SO YES... action needs to be swift, thorough and extreme. Ripping off the band aid now is in my opinion the best course of action.

The most important thing we can do is watch Dallas. This is the place where patient ZERO a Liberian citizen landed and walked quietly through the airport undetected. How the F*** did that happen?

Video 1. Oct 6th.  Preliminary THOUGHTS

 

Brain Dead, speeding bike, Regulate this nonsense!!!!

Time to get tough NYC. The wild west of the bickers has got to STOP.  Pedestrians are not targets in a video game.

 

WHERE ARE THE BIKE LAWS??????????

Here are some suggestions!

 

 

1.  MAKE them get a license and display a plate. We get one for our dogs!

2. They must get insurance. They CAN sue you if you hit them you should be able to sue them.

3. And how about identity regulation? The lights, horns and bells should all be placed consistently on the bikes!

 

Jill Tarlov, 59 is brain dead because maniac Jason Marshall thinks pedestrians are part of a video game. This time he crashed and burned into an innocent woman walking in Central Park. He walked away she didn't.

This had got to stop! Since the nonsense inception of The Crazed Bike era, New Yorkers have been terrorized with not a legal leg to stand on. Jason Marshall may get a slap on the wrist, a desk ticket... depending on what the investigation reveals.  The family of Jill Tarlov will get pain and anguish.

Marshall has no insurance!  So good luck suing him.

But get this. If you hit Marshall there are already law firms advertising to kick your butt.

Jill Tarlov is the extreme example of the terror that these bikers inflict on New York City Pedestrians. I've been side swiped and my girlfriend suffered from a broken collar bone from a bike that just peddled away.

Come on NOW take them away or get them regulated!

Shameful Landlord Behaviour New York City

Here is just another example of shameful landlord tactics (New York Post)

Sheila Mac, murdered and stuffed in suitcase.

ok this one just needs the video

 

 

81 year old woman prisoner in Apartment for two Years

For two years  Ms. Olga Zhuravel was locked in her apartment because her landlord  Moshe Piller would not give her the keys to use the wheel chair accessible ramp.

My guess is that Olga had a rent stabilized apartment and it seems that Mr. Piller wanted to create an atmosphere of harassment and stress so that she would move out. This is a common practice in NYC. Some landlords (I suspect the majority)_ use such techniques as a matter of course. The have a playbook and a lawyers advice. What kind of people are these?

Mr. Pillar will probably get a slap on the wrist and maybe a fine in Housing Court so there is really no deterrent NOT to engage in such practices.

Olga was probably in a rent stabilized apartment and she probably had it for years. If this were the case her rent was well below market value. She could have been paying $300.00 for an apartment that had a $2500.00 market value. Mr. Piller knew that she was old she was infirmed, no question that she was vulnerable. His lawyer will argue that Olga lost the key, that he gave it to her but she doesn't remember due to her Alzheimer's and the judge will believe him.  I can't tell you whether or not the landlord was sent a letter by certified mail explaining the problem, but if he claims he didn't get the letter the judge will have a good reason to rule in Mr. Pillers favor.

(If you have a problem in your apartment send a certified letter to your landlord. Don't forget to keep the little blue slip, and the receipt. And just for more insurance, I would pay extra for a signature confirmation. I lost a case because I didn't not keep the blue slip even though I had a receipt and a signature conformation. That's what you get when you don't have a lawyer).

If Olga is lucky and can hire a  lawyer he or she will argue that even if Olga did not remember the key it could have been given to the family members who had to carry her up and down the stairs for an occasional outing.

Do you remember the last pod cast I did about  man that jumped  from his fourth floor apartment window to his death just to avoid eviction?   This is NOT an uncommon practice. It is shameful and disgusting.

And just so you know there are 24,000 evictions a year in NYC. That's about 65 a day. I can't tell you how many of those are residential or commercial because the statistics are not available...yet! That's 65 evictions a day!

FACTOID:    One out of three people that are evicted end up homeless.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tenant David Arfa facing eviction jumps to death in Queens New York

If  you don't know yet my pet topic is tenants rights in NYC. Facing eviction and homelessness bring fear and terror to many New Yorkers and in this case death. A 61 year old disabled man named David Arfa threw himself out of his fourth-floor window last week (Aug 4th or so).

The Marshall and the landlord and some kind of phantom social worker (whose identity and existence is questionable) came to this mans home to throw him out and all his belongings!

This man had lived with his mother for over twenty years and when she died he was left alone, mentally disabled and probably unable to understand what was happening to him.

Then the landlord whose name was conveniently NOT published woke up one day and probably said to himself, "I can get more money for that apartment. The mother just died it's a good time to raise the rent and have this 61 year old man evicted".

Shame on you landlord!

The reporters Matt McNulty and Leonica Valentine contacted the Marshall David Capuano and the  NYC Marshalls Association who said that David Arfa had not paid rent since December.

And so what? Is this some kind of justification to throw a disabled 61 year old man mourning for his mother out of his home?

It's not the business of the Marshalls office to give some kind of justification for this death.

This is a sick and inhumane way to treat tenants and yet it happens every day.

STOP THIS NYC!

GO USA! SOCCER

Ok my score is 00 with a tiebreaker.
To me soccer is like foosball. Stand about 20 feet from your screen. Tilt you TV forward a bit. Sit down and voila! Foosball. Little foosbalm men.
Get back to me on that!

Lowest Rent Increase Since 1969 in Rent Stabilized apartements. in New York City

Yep you heard it right! Thanks New York Post again for keeping me posted. Welcome a New Age. The greed is going thanks to our awesome mayor. I love you Billy D!

This is the lowest rent increase since Rent Stabilization began in 1969.  A wonderful 1% for a one year lease and a  2.75% increase for a two year lease. That means that the rent has increased each and every year since 1969. Until NOW!

Landlords have gotten their way for over the last 40 years.

But the tide is a changing I can feel it in the wind.

Naturally the lawyers for the landlords (The Rent Stabilization Board which is pro Landlords) came out to the press to belly ache about the rising costs and their inability to make a living. Why then would anyone with a rational business sense WANT to be in the landlord business? If your loosing money and you can predict to loose more.. get out!

So this my friends makes me very happy, very very happy and shows a new  kind of leadership emerging in NYC. A leadership that cares about the quality of life in New York City.

I can bet'cha however, that this is just the beginning of a long fight. Landlords do not go down easily.

Phony Evictions? New York City? Charles Rangel and Mrs. Espaillat

Phony Evictions? New York City? You better believe it! Thank you New York Post for keeping me posted on my pet issue... evictions and housing court.

And thank you Mrs. Espaillat for bringing this issue to the forefront.
And thank you Mr. Rangel for having your team distribute phony eviction notices to tenants.


PHONY evictions notices are common practice with some News York City landlords. Conveniently, there a no numbers of statistics on how many of these occur each year because most of the victims are the elderly, immigrants and anyone who scares easily.

I have witnessed phony evictions distributed by hand when I used to live on 108th street in Spanish Harlem. Spanish Harlem is a predominately, Latin/ Mexican/Puerto Rican neighborhood.

When  the landlords smelt money they decided that gentrification was going to happen.  Their motto was, "Evict em? Raise those rents! Make more money! Move em out! Move em in! Raise the rent again!"

One of the terrible consequences of what I call landlord veraciousness or for lack of a better work  greed is that the local people became targets for evictions. Where I lived in Spanish Harlem most of the people knew limited English. Many landlords figured that since illegal eviction saved a shit load of legal fees it was definitely a strategy that was worth a shot.

 Many of those victimized came from countries with a corrupt legal system and official hand delivered papers in another language scared them shitless.

As gentrification took place I saw first hand families evicted or illegally locked out of their apartments sitting on the street with all of their possessions laying next to them or piled in a heap in the garbage. I also noticed that many of these illegal evictions took place at night usually the night before garbage pick-up as to not draw attention to the crimes taking place.  I was sickened by regularly witnessing  mothers and children shivering by dark doorsteps in the midst of winter in complete shock. These terrorized families had nowhere to go but the stoop of the place they once called home.

YES ILLEGAL EVICTIONS OCCUR AND THEY OCCUR A LOT!

If anything Rangel's behavior is  a symptom of a greater problem in the system.

If you or anyone you know has been illegally evicted please post a comment.

Rent Stabilization, and my hero Bill de Blasio !!!!!!

Over the last two days the New York post has published two articles directly related to housing in New York City. One on rent stabilization and rent increases the other on the ruling of Justice Stoller regarding tenants ability to rent their apartments in sites like Airbnb.

In the first article publish in the New York Post, on June 17th page 4, our wonderful mayor Bill de Blasio had the fortitude to suggest that  there be no rent increases this year for Rent Stabilized apartments. that is despite the overwhelming pressure of the Landlord lobby! 

I live in a rent stabilized apartment and have felt the economic crunch yet my rent keeps going up. Ultimately, It came down to cable of internet or rent. I picked rent.

Rent stabilized apartments however, are not free ride inManhattan They rent for a little below market value and in fact most rent stabilized tenants pay up to 80% of their income to keep their apartments. Most tenants live in fear of eviction for non-payment. A lost job, a slow year, a family illness can mean homelessness for some... including myself.

I have personally logged over 100 court appearances over a period of 5 years in Housing Court trying to keep a roof over my head.

 What I experienced in the New York Housing courts, was a combination of fear and terror. For me it was a thoroughly degrading and hostile experience except for  the courtroom of Judge Wendt in whose courtroom  I felt  safe and my rights protected. It was not the same for some of the other judges whose courtrooms seethed intimidation and questionable courtroom behavior.

Honorable Mayor De Blasio, it may be a good idea to look closer at the  Housing court system. I believe it is an institution that needs some attention. Personally, I would love to see some sort of formal committee given this mandate.

Next on the agenda?   May I suggest that we EXAMINE HOUSING COURT!