8 THE QUEENS COURIER • AUGUST 24, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Nazi & gun posters part of Sunnyside condo ‘terror campaign’: pol
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
Residents at a Sunnyside condo are said
to be dealing with a dictator of their own.
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer rallied
in front of 47-55 39th Pl. with local community
EYEGLASSES
������������������������������������ Frames & Lenses
10/15/17 10/15/17
BACK TO SCHOOL
10/15/17
Encore Premium
$169
VARILUX
PROGRESSIVE LENSES
No-line Bifocals W/ Metal Frame
Select frames with clear plastic no-line lenses
+/- 4 sph, 2 cyl. Not valid with any other
offers, sales, vision plan packages. Must
present prior to purchase. Offer valid at
location only. Some restrictions apply
see store for details.
Expires 10/15/17
��������������������������������������������������������������������
(18 years & younger)
With the purchase of glasses,
contact lens exam & fitting add'l.
QC
$100 OFF
10/15/17
leaders to call for an immediate
investigation into the building’s property
manager, Neal Milano, who has decked
out the building’s lobby in some disturbing
imagery and allegedly harassed tenants
for years.
Th e lobby itself is covered in posters
that pay tribute to dictators such as Hitler
and Mussolini, as well as the National
Rifl e Association and President Donald
Trump. Still, interspersed among those
images are quotes from Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr., President George Washington
and William B. Travis. Two 10-foot-tall
statues of Uncle Sam fl ank the entryway
doors.
Residents of the building, who were
afraid to speak to or appear in front of the
press in fear of retaliation, have expressed
their fears to the councilman in the days
since the story fi rst broke earlier this week
on NY1 News.
Van Bramer said tenants have alleged
threats of outrageous fi nes, eviction and
even physical violence for fi ling harassment
reports with police or for minor
off enses, including recycling errors. One
resident whose mother was convalescing
in her apartment also alleges she was
even charged $100 a day to permit her
stay.
More recently, residents told Van
Bramer, the property manger has taken
to slapping Trump stickers on the doors
of residents who have rubbed him the
wrong way.
“I think that this neighborhood is a
beautiful, diverse place — a progressive
place — that values every single individual
who lives here,” Van Bramer said.
“And I also know that what’s happening
in this building is an aff ront to all of us.
It is an absolute disgrace that there are
Sunnysiders who are living in fear.”
Th e property manger’s “racist, anti-Semitic
and anti-immigrant actions” take
place on “almost a daily basis,” the lawmaker
continued.
Another problematic feature of the
“house of horrors,” as Van Bramer called
it, is the building directory. Former U.S.
attorney Preet Bharara, Snoop Dogg, LL
Cool J and infamous Nazis Rudolf Hess
and Josef Mengele are among the fi ctional
residents listed.
“Th at is a symbol to every single person
walking into this building that this is
a place to fear,” Van Bramer said.
“Th ere are more cameras in this building
than in Fort Knox,” Van Bramer
added. “And they are not necessarily to
guard against someone breaking into the
building. Th ey are to watch and monitor
the people who live in this building. Th at
is chilling.”
Attorney Jacob Laufer has spoken to the
media on behalf of Milano, who is said
to be out of the country, and called the
murals “patriotic” and “historical.”
“You can talk about World War II
without having an image of Hitler giving
the Nazi salute,” Van Bramer said. “You
can talk about the history of this country
without having so many images of guns
inside this lobby.”
A lawsuit has been fi led against the
condo board and Milano, according to
condo owner and attorney Lynn Calvacca.
“He’s a bully,” Calvacca said. “He’s a
terrorist in this county, in this Sunnyside
area … Everybody is so afraid.”
Calvacca said there are certain tenants
in the building who call her once a week
asking her for help.
“We have to end the terror campaign
that is happening here,” Van Bramer said.
“Th e news is littered with stories of
racism and bigotry on the rise throughout
our nation,” state Senator Michael
Gianaris said. “We like to think we’re
in a safe haven here in New York. But
unfortunately, these things are happening
right here in our very own community,
as well.”
Van Bramer and the community leaders
said they are working closely with the
NYPD to address the ongoing issues.
Photos by Suzanne Monteverdi/QNS
The exterior of the Sunnyside condo building where tenants allege they are harassed by their
property manager.
