*Bestselling author and “wellness queen” Queen Afua Helen Robinson claims a landlord tricked her elderly mother into signing over the deeds to her Brooklyn home, now the family with the support of the community is fighting to prevent the landlord from taking over the property.
Here’s more from local news site Patch:
The Robinson family claim their landlord, Menachem Gurevitch, took over the home in 2015 after telling 98-year-old Ida Robinson he would help refinance the property and then forging the deed. The Robinson family was the first Black family on the block when they moved in in 1951, they said.
Gurevitch’s latest attempt to evict the Robinson family has been in the works since at least January 2020, based on a claim at the time that the tenants owed him $279,000, records show. The Robinson family say he has been trying to evict them since 2016.
Ida’s granddaughter Torain and her mother, Helen Robinson now live at the home.
OTHER NEWS: EUR Video News: 3 Suspects Rob, Shoot Man Inside His Brooklyn Apartment
“I come from the 60’s and the power is in the people” – Queen Afua/Helen Robinson . Come to 964 Park Place and stand with a family, even for an hr. Help watch the kkkops. See @BrooklynDefense for more information, to support or if you are having any issues with your own landlord pic.twitter.com/x6UjxAc6Im
— Megan (she/her) (@mwatsonnyc) February 16, 2022
Gurevitch claims Ida sold the home to him for $800,000 and that the family now owes a total of $460,000.
“It’s disheartening that the respondents who sold the property for over $800,000 have ignored every judgment and court order for years are now being permitted to occupy a premises where they have lived rent free for six years,” a spokesperson for Gurevitch said by email. “This is an egregious misuse of measures created during the pandemic to help struggling tenants.”
Robinson claims the landlords changed the locks in February, and Robinson tells Page Six that “goons” started packing her belonging into bags.
“We can’t find things because they took everything and put it in black garbage bags and put them against the wall so we are still looking for stuff,” she said. “We are still looking for personal items that we have not seen.”
“This has caused a good amount of emotional trauma and violence,” she added. “I am still in shock.”
Queen Afua Helen Robinson fighting eviction from her Brooklyn home https://t.co/1WLAde4oSQ pic.twitter.com/QtMciAjgrt
— Page Six (@PageSix) March 7, 2022
Per Page Six, “A court has ruled that the family can’t be evicted from the home until their court battle to get the deed back has concluded.”
Meanwhile, community members and activists have reportedly been gathering at the home 24/7 to prevent the landlords from trying to get into the property.
On Monday, New York City Housing Court Judge Jack Stoller ruled that the Robinson family will be restored legal possession as tenants of the brownstone, per Patch.
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