NYC Complains: This Week's Weirdest Lawsuits

NEW YORK CITY — Who threw this garbage? Do we really need this mural? Is the landlord in love? This week’s court filings in NYC posed some puzzling questions.

Gross Negligence: Woman Toppled By Garbage Sues City

A woman knocked to the ground by a flying bag of garbage is suing the city for gross negligence, a new lawsuit contends.

Robin Briggs filed suit against the city Tuesday over an alleged encounter with a bag of trash on East 15th Street and Avenue Z in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, court records show.

Briggs was crossing the street on May 25 when a sanitation worker threw the garbage her way and knocked her to the ground, the suit contends.

The incident reflected "gross negligence of the Defendant THE CITY OF NEW YORK," the lawsuit states. "Its employees ... threw garbage bags without looking to see if someone was walking in the path."

Landlord Texts 'I Still Love You' From Inside Tenants' Home: Suit

The texts came from inside the house, a new lawsuit contends.

Viola and Armand Hoxha filed suit Tuesday against a landlord they say repeatedly broke into their apartment, stole their wedding rings and sent terrifying texts, the suit contends.

“I still love you" Marco Pantalone allegedly messaged his terrified tenant on Nov. 12. "Right now I am in your bedroom."

Patch was unable to reach Pantalone for comment.

The couple first became suspicious of Pantalone after they found dirty shoe prints in their home near 60th Street and 19th Avenue in Mapleton, Brooklyn, the suit contends.

Those suspicions were allegedly confirmed in summer 2021 when Pantalone burst into the apartment at night and, when asked to leave, cursed and said it was his right to enter their home, according to the complaint.

City law allows landlords to enter tenants' homes without notice only during emergencies or with notice to conduct needed repairs. Some leases may also legally allow limited entry to landlords.

The couple left the city in October, 2021, and returned in November to find missing $18,000 in cash, their wedding rings and diamond earrings, the suit contends.

A security camera they'd installed captured footage of Pantalone entering their home three times while they were away, according to the complaint.

When the Hoxhas confronted Pantalone, he allegedly admitted to coming into the apartment but said if they complained he would "put a stigma on your social security," the complaint states.

The Hoxhas went to the 66th precinct for help but police said they could not intervene in a landlord/tenant dispute and suggested changing the locks, the suit contends.

According to the complaint, the couple's surveillance camera captured footage two days later of Pantalone breaking the new lock.

Would-Be Muralist Sues 'DiBlasio' Because 'White Lives Matter'

A would-be muralist suffered a loss of confidence because the mayor wouldn't let him draw a "White Lives Matter" sign near City Hall, a new lawsuit contends.

Neil Raymond filed Tuesday a federal lawsuit against the city and the mayor, who he named as "Bill DiBlasio," for rejecting his proposal to scrawl this message on the streets of New York, Brooklyn court records show.

"Raymond spent hundreds of dollars on materials needed to make the requested murals" the lawsuit contends. "Raymond has suffered emotional distress, loss of confidence and purpose, loss of respect among his peers."

Raymond appealed to the Mayor's office in July 2020 with his request to make a companion piece to the Black Lives Matter mural painted outside Trump Tower earlier that month, the complaint states.

Raymond filed on Aug. 5, 2020, an application for a series of murals stating "Asian lives matter," "Hispanic lives matter," and "White lives matter," that was rejected weeks later, the suit contends.

"Except for a one time City initiative to install 'Black Lives Matter' murals on City roadways at certain locations," the department allegedly wrote, "the New York City Department of Transportation ('NYCDOT') does not permit installations on City roadways that are open to traffic."

Raymond argues this city policy violated his First Amendment rights.