'Bizarrely' Harassed Crown Heights Tenant Gets Day In Court: Report

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN— Tenant Francis Roberts wants a "normal life," and for the judge to throw the book at his landlord, who he says brought a "tent city" of "vagrants and itinerants" outside of his apartment's window, according to Brownstoner.

The local news web site says that the judge offered Roberts an oppertunity to settle, offering the beleaguered 20-plus-year resident of 972 Park Place 15 months of free rent, the same length of time as the alleged wrongdoing.

Roberts rejected the settlement at the start of the hearing on Thursday, Brownstoner reports, saying that he wants the LLC owner to admit to harassment.

In court, Roberts recounted the history of the past few months — namely that another tenant, on behalf of the landlord, Roberts says, set up a tent encampment abutting his apartment windows, creating a barely livable experience, according to Brownstoner.

It was "virtually impossible to get a proper night's rest," Roberts told the court. "They made it extremely difficult to live a normal life," he added, reports Brownstoner.

And despite months of seeking remedy from the landlord, Roberts said he never heard a thing, according to Brownstoner. In court, the LLC's legal team accused Roberts of "hoarding."

“How can that not affect a normal person?” Brownstoner reported Roberts as saying in court.

“I’m 77 years old, and these goons are trying to harass me out of my apartment after my abject pleading for my safety and well being, all I am asking is for normal life. All I’m asking is for normal life and peace in my apartment. Just let me live a normal life I would like to live at my age. That’s all I’m asking.”

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