Rory Denis refuses to move out of his rent-stabilized East Village apartment in New York City, regardless if he’s the last tenant left as the building undergoes major construction and gets gutted from top to bottom. The 66-year-old, who has lived in the building since 1979, claims “I have nowhere to go. I’d literally be homeless if I did. This is my home, and I have memories here,” said Denis.
Every other apartment in the building is gutted with no electricity or water. However, when they cut the power off on Denis, he went to court and ordered that it be put back on immediately. Not to mention the only way Denis can reach his fourth floor apartment is to step through a very dangerous construction zone.
The building’s contractor, Esteban Vazquez, explained that Denis has made their job nearly impossible.
“He insists on being here,” said Vasquez. “I feel sad. We even accommodated him of telling him, ‘Listen, I’m going to put you in a different apartment until you renovate and come back,’” However, Denis refuses to budge.
The “lone tenant” explains, “I have a lot of memories. I love my privacy. I love my apartment and the bottom line is I have nowhere to go. My only crime is being rent-stabilized and paying cheaper rent.”
Rory Denis does odd jobs around the neighborhood to pay his rent and survive, while he pursues his dreams of being a writer and stand-up comedian.
Check out a flick of Denis in the gallery. Do you think the building is in the wrong for trying to kick him out? Or does Denis have every right to stay in his rent-controled apartment?
