Landlord Trying To Evict 97 Yr Old Veteran

[frau kaleun]

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/..._his_fate.html

An elderly World War II vet wants to wipe the decks with a controversial landlord who is trying to give him the heave-ho from his $63-a-month Sunset Park apartment.

"I will stand up and fight him now," said former merchant marine Magnus Saethre, 97, who survived a Nazi U-boat torpedo attack during the war. "I'm scared of nothing."



Born in Norway, Saethre moved into the Fourth Ave. apartment soon after the war ended in 1945 and has been anchored there ever since. Known as "Old Man Mike" in the neighborhood, Saethre doesn't leave the fourth-floor, one-bedroom apartment much anymore after he had a pin placed in a balky right knee. He also suffers slightly from dementia as well as fading vision and hearing.

"He's like a friend to everyone," said his live-in caregiver and friend Devron King, 55, who met Saethre three decades ago and thinks of him as father figure. "He's the most generous guy in the world," King said. "We take care of each other." But landlord Jack Geula took the nonagenarian and King to Brooklyn Housing Court in 2008 to evict the pair, claiming that King was nothing more than a "predator" who was going after Saethre's modest savings. Geula also charged that King was a nuisance to fellow tenants.

"I'm doing it for the [benefit] of the building's tenants," said Geula, who took control of the building in 2006 and insists that Saethre's $63.29 rent has nothing to do with efforts to force him to ship out. "It's for the courts to decide," said Geula. The judge overseeing the case has yet to rule on their fate.

"It's not a prosecution, it's a persecution," said John Hlavaty, an attorney who represents both Saethre and King.

This is not the first time Geula has been accused of trying to oust tenants paying low rents from a building he owns. In 2007, tenant advocates charged Geula tried to force out longtime low-income tenants from other buildings along Fourth Ave. through legal challenges, failing to make repairs, and not supplying heat and hot water for days at a time.

"Money. That's all he wants," said Saethre. "He should be ashamed of himself. "I'm going to stay here for the rest of my life," he vowed. "At my age, I don't see how [he] could be dumb enough to throw me out of here."

I hope this turns out well for Mr. Saethre. Seriously, it's not like he's gonna be living there another 65 years, let him keep his cheap rent-controlled home for whatever time he's got left.

And if Ms. King is in fact only in it for the old dude's money (assuming he has any to speak of), so what? Ain't nobody else's business. According to the story they've been friends for 30 years and it doesn't appear that he's neglected, abused, or unhappy, so if she ends up getting paid in some fashion for providing care and companionship and he is satisfied with the quality of same, what's the big deal? People pay for "elder care" all the time and in some cases get precious little for their money.

[Sailor Steve]

Veteran or not, if I had someone that age who had lived in the same apartment for 60-odd years, I think I'd be saying "Hey! This guy's paid enough! The rest of his days are on me."

And then when he's gone I'd charge an arm-and-a-leg for the priviledge of moving into where someone had lived for so long!

But that's probably why I'm not a landlord, and don't own anything to speak of.

[Herr-Berbunch]

Here, here!

[Zachstar]

I have heard of these attempts to get out low rent tenants before. They get out these longtime users. Put a few thousand in sprucing up then pretend like its worth 300USD a month. Usually the only change was a school opened nearby or property values rose.

Rent prices across the country are nearly downright criminal in my opinion.

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/..._his_fate.html



I hope this turns out well for Mr. Saethre. Seriously, it's not like he's gonna be living there another 65 years, let him keep his cheap rent-controlled home for whatever time he's got left.

And if Ms. King is in fact only in it for the old dude's money (assuming he has any to speak of), so what? Ain't nobody else's business. According to the story they've been friends for 30 years and it doesn't appear that he's neglected, abused, or unhappy, so if she ends up getting paid in some fashion for providing care and companionship and he is satisfied with the quality of same, what's the big deal? People pay for "elder care" all the time and in some cases get precious little for their money.

decide about your life,everyone is entitled to a proper life and not a court, which dealt with by the bureaucracy.

[AVGWarhawk]

Yeah, attempting to evict this gentleman is quite low. Look at the brightside, this is in the news getting out to people who care. As for the landlord, things may not be so cheery.

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

"I will stand up and fight him now," said former merchant marine Magnus Saethre, 97, who survived a Nazi U-boat torpedo attack during the war. "I'm scared of nothing."

I like the guy's attitude! I bet he still can kick the landlord's butt!

and the landlord sounds very believable given his history of ousting low-income tenants. Crook!

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by Penguin

I like the guy's attitude! I bet he still can kick the landlord's butt!

Reminds me a little of this fella, an 81 yr old (at the time) WWII and Korea vet:

[Donald Clouston] made the news — and received a phone call from TV comic Jay Leno — after he reported to Santa Rosa police in March of 2008 that he was on one of his daily multi-mile walks when a teen-ager with a knife tried to rob him on Fourth Street.

Clouston said he told the mugger he'd been attacked with rifles and bayonets, and there was no way he'd hand over his wallet to a kid with a knife.

“Son,” he recalls saying, “you take one more step toward me and I'll take you out.” He said the young man took that step, so he kicked him where it hurts most. He said the would-be assailant writhed on the sidewalk as he continued his walk.

Bada$$ old dudes:

[HunterICX]

Aye Veterans are a special brand of people, I once talked to a US merchant veteran who sailed through the mediterranean to supply the war effort in Italy at the time.

witnessed a torpedo attack on the ship that sailed in front of him, I remember him telling about the fear that hanged over the ship knowing that the uboat captain might be looking at your ship for his next attack.

HunterICX

[Weiss Pinguin]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

Bada$$ old dudes:

I can't be the only one who thought of this when I read that

[frau kaleun]

That movie just about broke my heart.

And I mean that in a good way.

[AVGWarhawk]

Bada$$ old dudes:

Yep, they are cool. We had one on our street. We addressed him as Mr. Ed. Survived WW2. Marched his way through Italy. He passed 3 years ago. Always walking our street with his pipe. Funny part is his pipe was always upside down. He would tease my girls and say he was going to swipe their bikes or ask for a peanut butter/jelly sandwich. Cool guy. Anyway, his story to me one day concerned transporting a superior from the rear to the front lines somewhere in Italy. He was driving a Willys Jeep. As they neared the front the superior could hear "plink...plink,plink, plink." To that he screamed, "They are shooting at us." To which Mr. Ed said, "What do you expect we are in a war zone." He said he just kept on driving to the front and the superior was ducking behind the Willy's dashboard. Last time I spoke with Mr. Ed was when he fell in his backyard. Pipe went one way and his slippers the other way. I was riding by with my daughter and seen him fall. I picked him up, brushed off his pipe and sent him inside to his wife. He was quite disoriented in is twilight years.

[Platapus]

Before opining, I would like a little more information. Clearly the referenced article is written with a bias in favour of the old vet. I would like to know if the accusations of the landlord have any validity.

What kind of lease does this guy have where his rent stays at $65 per month?

Methinks there is more to the story.

[Neptunus Rex]

It's a rent controlled apartment. As long as he remains under lease, (and the landlord has to prove the lease was broken) the rent remains unchanged.

If he moves out, the apartment goes to market rate.

If the head line were ...

Landlord wants to evict a 27 year old.

No problem. Agism.