Brusco Management is facing a federal lawsuit for allegedly trying to evict a transgender tenant from an Upper West Side building at 9 West 73rd Street.
In her lawsuit, former tenant Josephine Tell claims that REM Residential and the Brusco Group retaliated against her after she reported being sexually assaulted in 2022 by a building employee. Tell’s lawsuit, filed last week, accuses the management company of making false legal claims, including allegations that Tell was operating as an escort from the apartment where she owed $52,000 in rent.
Tell alleges that the landlords’ actions were “sufficiently pervasive and severe so as to create a hostile environment based on sex and gender in violation of Plaintiff’s rights, as protected by the Fair Housing Act.”
R.E.M’s president and founder Rick Elezi denied all allegations of wrongdoing. In a legal filing, Elezi said that his office received complaints from other tenants about men waiting in the building where Tell allegedly operated an escort business.
“None of the tenants will come forward with their complaints and will not even identify themselves,” Elezi said.
According to the affidavit, tenants called the NYPD multiple times to have men removed from the hallways. Elezi said that these reports and actions were part of REM Residential’s efforts to ensure the safety of other tenants, and were not driven by discrimination.
REM Residential also said that one of its employees found an online prostitution advertisement for Tell. However, the lawsuit disputes this, with Tell arguing that the advertisement is fake and that REM is discrediting her and trying to evict her from the building on prostitution grounds.
According to the filing, the NYPD abandoned its investigation because the Manhattan district atorney does not prosecute sex work cases.
Tell’s lawyer declined to comment.
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