Man who has lived in the same apartment for seven decades may be evicted in mold dispute

A 77-year-old man who has lived in the same rent-controlled, two-bedroom Bensonhurst apartment for the past 70 years may finally have to move out. According to the Daily News, Melvin Pearlstein is in a dispute with landlord Peter Pantelic over his $415-a-month 83rd Street home, where he says a mold infestation got so out of hand that his wife got asthma and had to move out. Pearlstein, who lived in the apartment with his brother and parents as a child, said Pantelic ignored orders by the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development to have the mold removed. Meanwhile, building manager Halstead Management has filed to have the Pearlsteins evicted for being disruptive tenants. According to court papers, they repeatedly woke Pantelic in the middle of the night to complain about the mold and physically threatened him. But Pearlstein has no plans to leave. The landlord apparently offered him $700 to move at one point; they declined. “This is my roots; my family lived here,” he said. “It would be emotionally and physically devastating for me to move.” [NYDN] 

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