Chuck Barris - the former " Gong Show " host whose life was supposedly the subject of George Clooney 's 2002 film, " Confessions of a Dangerous Mind " -- has been the victim of the high-decibel eccentricities of his neighbor, Dorothea Weitzner, an 85 year-old inventor who holds some 25 patents.
After Barris filed a series of complaints which alleged he had been subjected to a litany of unspeakable abuse, Trump Plaza Owners, Inc. eventually commenced a case against Weitzner citing a clause in her proprietary lease which allowed the building's Board of Directors to evict a shareholder-tenant for "objectionable conduct" after a 2/3 vote.
Barris and Weitzner own adjoining Trump Plaza penthouses and, according to Barris , Weitzner's diatribes against him and his wife, could be heard through a dividing wall.
In a 2003 letter, Barris cited a dozen examples of his neighbor's misconduct, ranging from threats of physical violence to screams deriding Barris for marrying a non-Jew.
In a 2005 letter to the Board, Barris quoted some of the bile which spewed through the walls: "What you need is your head cracked open. I'll get you, just you wait ... I'll get you, you cockroach. You faggot. Your wife's mother's a slut."
(Interestingly, when questioned during the course of discovery, Ms. Weitzner admitted to having threatened Barris with dismemberment.)
The New York County Supreme Court denied Trump Plaza's efforts to secure the lease's termination, refused to authorize Weitzner's ejectment or removal from the building, and would not grant a declaration that the coop could sell Weitzner's shares at auction, all because the building had failed to give the shareholder-tenant appropriate notice, as required by the parties' agreement.
The governing proprietary lease provided that any notice or demand was to be addressed to the "Tower Building." The court found that by sending the document to a P.O. box, Weitzner had been deprived of a key communication. (In New York, when a landlord-tenant relationship exists, a predicate notice can be an indispensable part of an eviction case.)
Notwithstanding that error, the court granted Trump Plaza a preliminary injunction and enjoined Weitzner from yelling or screaming in common areas or within her own apartment so as to be heard by the building's occupants.
On appeal, the Appellate Division, First Department, disagreed with the lower court's order and directed that the injunction be modified to specify the proscribed conduct in more detail. (Trump Plaza was also required to post an "undertaking" or "bond" as a quid pro quo for that special relief.) The AD1 was also of the opinion that it was unnecessary to dismiss the coop's claims.
Although the initial predicate notice had been sent to Weitzner's P.O. box, the record demonstrated that Weitzner had, in fact, received the document and that Trump Plaza had attempted to cure that defect (albeit some three years later) by sending several more notices to all of Weitzner's known addresses.
Unlike that old variety show -- where Barris could disqualify a contestant or where judges like Jaye P. Morgan , Rex Reed and/or Jamie Farr relieved contestants from their misery by hitting a large disc-shaped piece of brass -- this particular battle has got quite a few more gongs to go.
"We'll be right back, with more ... stuff!"
You can read excerpts of Barris' letter, published in the New York Law Journal, here: http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1184749597962
To download a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: Trump Plaza Owners, Inc. v Weitzner
To view a copy of the New York County Supreme Court's decisions, please use these links: Dismissal of coop's claims and Grant of injunctive relief