Um, this roommate story is INSANE

Some context please?

What’s this about? Was the roommate male or female? What did she/he/it/xir do?

Reminds me of this UK series

At least she's not a gargoyle.

Based on the first part of the article, it’s the landlords that are the assholes. They rent a room in a very small apartment to a mother and daughter. They arrive with an unexpected dog, but don’t say no. Then immediately the landlords have a friend stay with them for two weeks sleeping on the couch, and are shocked that the new tenant is unhappy with that setup. Then they ask the tenants to leave at the end of the first month and give the tenants only six days to find something else.

Anything after that, including punches to the cunt, are justified.

I read the whole article and I agree the landlords sound like idiots. Any couple who'd rent a room in a tiny apartment like that has to be crazy. Yeah yeah it's New York but still-- if you can't afford to live in an 860 foot apartment without roommates, then maybe you should live somewhere else.

The woman who accused the Harvard law professor of all that crazy shit a few years ago and took over his house set the standard for crazy. This story read more like a long NextDoor rant.

This is the story I was thinking of. Way crazier than this roommate drama.

That story gave me anxiety.

Keep reading past "the first part of the article," for the way that someone's mental illness and grifting can ruin people's lives. Pox on Gladstone and condolences to her teen daughter who has to be as damaged as her mother by now.

I stopped reading after finding out the landlords kicked the tenant out with six days notice, and the story was slanted ridiculously in favor of the landlords.

The tenant never paid, of course she wanted to kick her griftin ass out. Gladstone has been bullshitting her way through people's lives since 2004.

If this is the only way you can afford NYC, it's time to move. A roommate in an 860 sq. ft. apartment at their ages is insane.

Not only that, r12, it was a COUPLE renting a room out to a third person with a kid and a dog.

The six days was an asshole thing to do, however...

[quote] to offer July and August free if Gladstone signed an agreement to leave by August 31.

Covid is just an excuse for you not to be able to get a job at this point. You have a kid and you can't even get your shit together to get money for rent? No excuse. Go work in a factory. Stop holding out because you think you're "worth more". Stop blaming everyone else for your misfortune. Kid only exists so you can get money. what a piece of shit. Take the asshole's child away and chain her in front of a conveyer belt and force her to do manual labour for cash until she drops the stuck up attitude.

Gladstone wasn’t just a “tenant” (who most of us want to be on the side of) — she was a grafting itinerant who has burned bridges with everyone she’s met, while creating a chaotic upbringing for her daughter. A felon, thief, and inveterate liar, the thought of people like her roaming our cities makes my skin crawl. People who understand Gladstone’s stance are of the “all landlords are rapacious monsters and are always wrong” mindset. Any tenancy is inherently contractual. I just don’t get why eviction of those who fail to live up to a contract is so labyrinthine. And no claptrap about how the government isn’t doing enough to help and that explains squatters’ problems — that may have some merit, but this woman is a singular phenomenon.

Heidi and Val have my sympathy, but if I needed help to pay for 860 square feet, I’d get the hell out.

^^grifting

Why don't you idiots commenting READ the whole article. The tenant was a serial grifter. These poor ladies were just trying to make it until they could sell the place and move on (although, yes, Heidi should NOT have let the friend crash with them in the beginning - a wrong she admits to).

The tenant is a fucking psychopath, through and through.

I tried to read the whole thing but it's very, very long. I got past the ex (who may be a single naive lesbian with an apartment) and the second landlord (single man with his daughter) but it was exhausting. I'd read through a highlight or bullet point list of the things she did though. The little infographic with the bomb icons was good, if they had one for each offended party...that would be a better article

The landlord was naive and foolish and unwittingly "rented" the room to a malingering sociopath. If I were Russell, I'd let the place go (the mortgage is hopelessly upside down anyway), file for bankruptcy, whatever, and get the hell out of there; anything to be shut of the creepy tenant.

Roommates? I’ll live in Mississippi before I get a roommate. No offense to people who live in Mississippi.

People who start sentences with “Um” are equally insane.

Lesbian D R A M A meets even wackier Lesbian D R A M A!

I love the part where they're recording each other on iPhones and madly spraying disinfectant.

I have to agree with r20. I'd rather live in an unfashionable area and be by myself than live with a roommate. I just can't do it.

The stupid problems of stupid people like those you see on Judge Judy! Lack of sense seems to be at the root of these problems!

It is not that deep, Mom is on the grift.

[quote] I stopped reading after finding out the landlords kicked the tenant out with six days notice, and the story was slanted ridiculously in favor of the landlords.

***SPOILER ALERT***

The tenant is a prolific grifter, thief and lunatic. She ruins the life and financial future of the landlord. Any male Datalounger would have done a Baby Jane Hudson on her after the first few weeks.

This grifting bitch is going to piss off the wrong person one day.

68? How about 72. My uncles are close to Bernie's age and their houses are total hotboxes. It's uncomfortable after a little while.

Oops sorry wrong thread!

Grifters are greedy and manipulative, not 'crazy'.

That daughter of hers will be her karma.

Is her last name Ripley?

[quote] Gladstone wasn’t just a “tenant” (who most of us want to be on the side of) — she was a grafting itinerant who has burned bridges with everyone she’s met, while creating a chaotic upbringing for her daughter. A felon, thief, and inveterate liar, the thought of people like her roaming our cities makes my skin crawl.

Sounds exactly like Tara Reade.

The revelations did not surprise Bajada. “Heidi is more trusting than me,” she says. Bajada and her mother had been left homeless during the Khrushchev era of the USSR, after seven families were forcibly moved into their apartment.

Currently, the situation at 129 Barrow is not even the worst of Bajada’s housing crises.

While all of this was happening with Gladstone in New York, Bajada was in Kiev — her elderly mother had been murdered in a dispute over her apartment by another family that was trying to take possession of it.

I live in a rent-controlled one bedroom in LA;

I live alone; it's not the best but when I hear horrific roommate stories I feel so lucky.

I was lifelong NY Mag subscriber but let it lapse about 5 years ago... I recently restarted my subscription and I am so glad I did. Love getting the mag on Monday mornings at my door.

[quote] I stopped reading after finding out the landlords kicked the tenant out with six days notice, and the story was slanted ridiculously in favor of the landlords.

You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me. Read the rest of the article. The tenant is a grifter sociopath.

I can’t believe she’s STILL freeloading in their apartment. What an absolute nightmare.

Does the Cut employ editors? Every time I read one of their articles, it’s a jumbled shitshow of a mess. This careened around so much I got whiplash.

The grifter is waiting for the owners to lose their place. She will then get that lump sum (25 grand) she's looking for from the next owner to GTFO.

The owners of the apartment made serious errors but does that mean they should be homeless?

Their first error was negotiating the rate. The second was accepting the roomer with a dog.

Follow your first instinct and don't look back.

As soon as that grifting psycho showed up with her kid and a dog the owner should've said "sorry, this wasn't part of the deal" and told her to leave. You have to be firm with people or they'll take advantage of you to no end. You can't give a shit about hurting their feelings because all they want to do is use you.

Stop reading if it's too complicated for you, R37, like the other slow person in the thread did. Some of us somehow managed to emerge uninjured.

Well I hope squatting in a minuscule apartment was worth having her years of grift publicly exposed in a major media outlet.

No one understands why the grifter isn't already in prison for credit card fraud, 10k of fraudulent charges?

r42 isn't it amazing how some people can just get away with all kinds of shit? If I ever tried to do that I would probably be in jail in five minutes.

Thanks for your concern over my reading skills R40, they’re just fine.

The article is poorly written and isn’t the first I’ve read on the site with this type of structure.

I'll bet the grifter has her daughter on the stroll.

I remember reading about this crazy story in the Post all last summer. I thought the moratorium on evictions was over though, why can’t they kick her out now?

These women basically won the lottery with that apartment and they still couldn’t afford it. I feel bad for them, and Gladstone sounds bipolar and off her meds. She will likely be murdered by someone someday. Not everyone she screws over will be helpless elderly lesbians. But everyone should know that a person over the age of 25 who needs to rent a room by the night because they’re so broke is not someone you let in your home.

The landlord was stupid but didn’t deserve that psychopath. Also, iirc, the child, as well as the dog, was a surprise extra.

The two women who owned the apartment paid only $400K or so. That sounds dirt cheap, considering the location. Seems like it should have been affordable for 2 people.

Renting out a room at that age sounds like a nightmare, even under better circumstances (non-psycho roommate). I’d rather move from NYC than live like that.

Definitely r47. If this is the only way you can afford to live in NYC (esp. at their ages!) it's not worth it. You need to go to a more affordable area for a more financially secure life and peace of mind.

I all seriousness I think I'd either murder her, or pay someone to murder her.

One of the owners doesn't work. Or has an income. Very messy.

Drama only carpet munchers could come up with.

A consultant with high testosterone is needed as this will bring a) BOUNDARIES b) LOGIC, and c)ACTION

This is the story of so many New Yorkers i.e. they really can't afford to live in the city but they keep hanging on and hanging on. Personally, it sounds like a needlessly frustrating and miserable way to live one's life.

What's the point of living in NYC when you really can't afford a damn thing in NYC? I would be so depressed, I couldn't live that way.

It’s not really an NYC / expensive mortgage problem. They paid $450K, 2 adults. That’s not sky-high as far as price.

R53 they were grandfathered in to an affordable housing program. But most HDFCs in NYC have a cheaper buy in than that. Either way it was too much for them to afford

450;000 mortgage and coop fees= 4 grand a month.

That's expensive

Meh, messy people with messy lives

Sometimes an accident can be an unhappy woman's best friend.

Couldn’t they go to the mafia for help to kick the crazy tenant out? Heck one of them is Russian so go to the Russian mafia!

[quote]I stopped reading after finding out the landlords kicked the tenant out with six days notice, and the story was slanted ridiculously in favor of the landlords.

You are one stupid cunt.

I’d probably want to beat the shit out of the renter myself.

The 2nd owner seemed like she washed her hands of the situation. If there had been a way to financially salvage the situation, I think the 2nd owner would have left Kiev and returned to NY.

We've discussed this case here before (I knew I recognized that picture of the grifter).

West Village studio dubbed NYC’s ‘worst apartment’

[quote] I all seriousness I think I'd either murder her, or pay someone to murder her.

I kept thinking that, too, but didn’t want to say it.

This could only happen in NYC, in the south she would gotten her ass beat bloody.

NYC judges should also be beaten bloody for leaving a child with a psychotic mother. Who the fuck is minding the store?

Broke dark lesbians.

All three of them.

I cannot even imagine this situation. I would be fighting the urge the throttle this insane cunt and throw her down the stairs or out the window every day.

For those who said they shouldn’t be living in a place they couldn’t afford, did you even read the article? They were trying to sell the apartment!

They originally just wanted a lodger to stay for the summer but now, thanks to the psycho lodger, those poor old dykes are homeless and bankrupt.

They need to make a huge mess on the apartment and call child protection services.

I’m thinking reality show…

I want to know what the deal is with the Russian woman who has been in Kiev this whole time letting her girlfriend deal with all this. She didn't work because of chronic pain, but the girlfriend worked two jobs in addition to attempting to be a landlord, while Miss Tender to the Touch took a jet halfway across the world.

R70, the article says that the Kiev woman's mother was murdered. But there's only so much Kiev woman can do for her mother, who is dead. Seems like Kiev woman should have flown back to help partner in NYC. Definitely more to the story.

I think grifting tenant mentally thrives on this kind of shit. As much as I say I'd beat the shit out of her; I think I'd mentally crack living in close quarters (sharing bathroom and kitchen) with the crazy tenant.

I don't understand how the owners were able to afford attorneys and supposedly racked up $40K or so in attorneys' fees (unpaid).

I was briefly a Manhattan landlord in the late 80s/early 90s. I learned about these people the hard way. We called them professional tenants. They knew that no matter how fucked up they are and how much damage they cause and however much they owe, it will take a minimum of six months to get them evicted, often much, much longer, because Landlord/Tenant court is fucked up and corrupt. They have the game down and pat know how to live months somewhere without paying rent.

I would kick the tenant out right after her check was Fedexed from Florida. That's the red flag, terrifying red flag.

Never ever trust anyone from that fucked up, shithole state.

I wnat to know what's happening with this psycho tenant's poor daughter. Why does this bitch still have custody, dragging the poor kid around from squat to squat? I assume the father doesn't genuinely want custody of the poor damaged kid, but it seems like the least a family court could do is take her away from a clearly unbalanced parent and place her somewhere else.

I can only imagine the scars this kid is growing up with.

Before this happened there were "WARNING" with a picture of the grifter on lamp posts in the West Villlage. Mentioned she has a daughter who attends P.S. 3 at Hudson and Grove streets.

The one woman sounds like she has fibromyalgia 🙄

All of this could have been avoided if the only insisted on Verificatia.

R5 and r6 should read the whole article. The landlords aren't the crazy ones

It needs to be reasonably easy to evict roommates. Roommates should have rights to proper notification of eviction and time to find a new arrangement, but it's complete insanity to treat them as regular tenants. Forcing people who hate each other to live together indefinitely is a recipe for violence.

R79 I couldn’t agree more. This lady and her daughter and dog never even paid a month’s rent and they didn’t have a rental agreement. How is NYC classifying them as tenants? The fact that the judge thought there was no harm to the homeowner is ludicrous. How is this any different than any other form of domestic abuse? They should enter a restraining order so this grifter needs to stay far, far away.

I can't imagine this nightmare.

The reason she went to evict in just six days was that was 30 days without rent. At that point (30 days), the woman becomes a tenant.

NYC is somehow simultaneously awful for renters and landlords. Anyone with ethics gets screwed over really.

The tenant never had any intention of leaving.

The landlords had to try to get her out with only 6 days notice because, if the woman had stayed past that, NY’s no eviction law would take hold.

They were right. She squatted for a year, never paying rent

What would you do get a squatter out of your apartment?

Couldn’t you just throw the person’s stuff out on the street?

[Quote] But there's only so much Kiev woman can do for her mother, who is dead. Seems like Kiev woman should have flown back to help partner in NYC. Definitely more to the story.

If your mom gets murdered (by people trying to steal her apartment), you would have a lot to deal with.

There was a cover story in New York Magazine not all that long ago. A guy, a lawyer, came in as a roommate and suddenly took over the place and had the true tenant evicted.

R85 you obviously don't watch Judge Judy or you'd know the answer.

Anyone hear of any updates to this story? I can't find anything.

This is Hood shit (or Ghetto behavior). The only thing Gladstone will respect is getting her ass handled. 👊

Surely their building had a basement?

Anyone here remember Melissa Berkelhammer? She was the hideous "socialite" who wound up squatting in a friend's apartment after an injury. She once demanded on social media that all her friends give her a million dollars each so she could have the lifestyle she was entitled to.