After accruing $72,000 in unpaid rent and frightening the lady who leased the property from the squatter for two years, the apartment was ultimately evicted.
On Thursday, a court ordered Kate Gladstone, 46, to leave Heidi Russell’s flat because she had made her landlady’s life “unbearable.”
In June 2019, she and her dog and daughter moved in. Soon after, Russell’s mother became ill, and when she requested that Gladstone move out so that she could remain with her sick father, Gladstone refused.
The dishonest squatter paid just one month’s rent ($2,000) and used the excuse of difficulty to postpone an attempt to remove her.
She had much more good fortune when the COVID outbreak led to a state ban on evictions, which made it hard to remove renters.
But once that limitation was relaxed earlier this month, Russell’s ordeal—during which she paced the streets to avoid bumping with Gladstone in her leased apartment—finally came to an end.
Gladstone declares that she would challenge the judgement, but it seemed unlikely that she would be able to return to Russell’s flat.
When approached and captured on camera by the New York Post while being ejected, she hid her face and declined to respond.
Gladstone lost control and started screaming “You’re going to destroy my life, so just say no. I won’t be leaving, “According to Russell, the New York Post.
Russell said in court documents that Gladstone had moved her kid into the room she was renting while she slept in the living room as a means of supporting that assertion.
The documents also claimed that Gladstone had brought boxes of her belongings into the living room and had threatened to sue Russell.
Gladstone refused to leave even when Russell asked her to, stopped paying rent, and attempted to take over the flat for herself.
But on August 5, Housing Court Judge Evon M. Asforis decided that Gladstone had to leave the flat because she had made Russell’s life “unbearable.”
The new roommate allegedly took over the living room, kitchen, and bathroom, removed smoke alarms, and scrawled odd messages directly on the walls, according to court filings from 2019, when Russell first sued Gladstone.
Russell said last year, “We’re well over $50,000 in debt, and climbing every month, from all of these things.” We can’t simply rely on one judge to decide. This is where I live and where we live. They seem to not even give a damn.
Russell also said in the complaint that Gladstone, a self-described documentary filmmaker, would spray her with cleaning agents and soak door knobs and doors in the substance.
Russell said that she resorted to using the restroom at friends’ houses or close-by laundry facilities, and that she wore headphones when she got home to avoid interacting with Gladstone and her daughter.
Russell said that one more of Gladstone’s habits was to wait until it was dark before recording herself.
Russell said to the newspaper that Gladstone would rob her of her food, bother her in the kitchen or toilet, and let her dog pee in the flat. Gladstone, according to Russell, accused her of frightening her kid as well.
Gladstone was scheduled to be evicted from her house in March, according to Russell, but the coronavirus prevented it since courts forbade evictions during the epidemic.
Russell said that in order to avoid Gladstone, she would have to leave her own apartment during the day.
Russell told the newspaper, “She’s made me into a homeless person during the epidemic.” I’m standing on the street wearing a mask and pulling an ancient dog cart. It has just dominated our life.
Russell said that up until July, when Gladstone abruptly departed for 17 days, Russell was trapped with Gladstone.
Russell said that at that time, she changed the locks because she thought Gladstone could have given the keys to someone else.
Gladstone went to housing court to claim that she had been unlawfully locked out when she returned and was unable to enter the property she was allegedly squatting in.
Russell was ordered by a court to let Gladstone return to her residence; only city marshals had the authority to take her out.
The eviction moratorium put in place during the epidemic was misused by Gladstone, who claimed she was having financial difficulties, causing the case to be put on hold for months.
She was arrested twice, once for alleged stalking and the second time for forgery and grand larceny after allegedly stealing an ex’s credit card and using it to pay for hotel rooms, according to court records obtained by the newspaper.
She has also been accused of squatting, harassing landlords, and refusing to pay rent.
She is “simply absolutely one of the most awful, terrible human beings I have ever experienced,” said Matt Titus, an author and matchmaker who let Gladstone live in his West Village apartment in 2017.
He said that she and her daughter had been squatters in his flat for months, damaging his credit and putting him $20,000 in debt.
Due to concerns that Gladstone may strike again and put another person’s life through hell, prospective landlords have now been advised to keep an eye out for her.