thedrifter
09-12-07, 05:50 AM
Disabled Iraq vet alleges he was evicted because he is black
BY JOHN MARZULLI
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, September 12th 2007, 4:00 AM
A marine veteran whose leg was blown off by a roadside bomb in Iraq says he was evicted from an apartment in a mostly white apartment complex in Brooklyn because he is black and disabled, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court.
After 16 months of intensive rehab at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Jamel Daniels was trying to get his life together late last year by applying to colleges, including Columbia University, and finding an apartment.
Daniels, 28, who was living at the Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen's Club on Lexington Ave. in midtown, found a listing on Craigslist for a one-bedroom apartment at 2838 Stillwell Ave. in Coney Island.
A broker from Brooklyn Estates & Properties showed him the flat, and after explaining a red flag on his credit report that turned out to be a phone bill that went unpaid while he was serving with the First Battalion, Second Marines in Iraq, Daniels got the $1,300-a-month apartment, according to court papers.
He paid Gregan Equities, the owner of the building, two months' rent and was given the apartment keys.
Then he was told it was all a mistake.
The complaint alleges that Victoria Barkovich of Brooklyn Estates told him that his credit score didn't cut it after all, and if he didn't return the keys, "she will have them taken from him by force."
Daniels was lucky to survive the bomb under his Humvee - three other Marines died in the attack. Fitted with a prosthetic left leg, he was standing outside the building in late November when a UPS truck pulled up to deliver his wheelchair.
"Mr. Daniels had to shamefully turn the delivery of his wheelchair away because he had been wrongfully evicted and locked out of his apartment."
Daniels, who is now living in Harlem, declined to comment. His lawyer could not be reached yesterday.
The suit seeks unspecified damages for the "emotional distress, humiliation and embarrassment" Daniels suffered as a result of the alleged discrimination.
jmarzulli@nydailynews.com
Ellie
BY JOHN MARZULLI
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, September 12th 2007, 4:00 AM
A marine veteran whose leg was blown off by a roadside bomb in Iraq says he was evicted from an apartment in a mostly white apartment complex in Brooklyn because he is black and disabled, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court.
After 16 months of intensive rehab at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Jamel Daniels was trying to get his life together late last year by applying to colleges, including Columbia University, and finding an apartment.
Daniels, 28, who was living at the Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen's Club on Lexington Ave. in midtown, found a listing on Craigslist for a one-bedroom apartment at 2838 Stillwell Ave. in Coney Island.
A broker from Brooklyn Estates & Properties showed him the flat, and after explaining a red flag on his credit report that turned out to be a phone bill that went unpaid while he was serving with the First Battalion, Second Marines in Iraq, Daniels got the $1,300-a-month apartment, according to court papers.
He paid Gregan Equities, the owner of the building, two months' rent and was given the apartment keys.
Then he was told it was all a mistake.
The complaint alleges that Victoria Barkovich of Brooklyn Estates told him that his credit score didn't cut it after all, and if he didn't return the keys, "she will have them taken from him by force."
Daniels was lucky to survive the bomb under his Humvee - three other Marines died in the attack. Fitted with a prosthetic left leg, he was standing outside the building in late November when a UPS truck pulled up to deliver his wheelchair.
"Mr. Daniels had to shamefully turn the delivery of his wheelchair away because he had been wrongfully evicted and locked out of his apartment."
Daniels, who is now living in Harlem, declined to comment. His lawyer could not be reached yesterday.
The suit seeks unspecified damages for the "emotional distress, humiliation and embarrassment" Daniels suffered as a result of the alleged discrimination.
jmarzulli@nydailynews.com
Ellie