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Landlord Refuses to Move Man With PTSD and AIDS to Quieter Studio: Lawsuit

By Rosa Goldensohn | December 19, 2014 7:34am
 The state Division of Human Rights sued Clinton Housing for its treatment of Phil Harris, 58.
Landlord Refuses to Move PTSD Sufferer: Lawsuit
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HELL'S KITCHEN — An affordable housing landlord refused to move a resident with AIDS and post-traumatic stress disorder to a quieter apartment despite threats to his health, according to a lawsuit filed by the state. 

In the suit, filed Dec. 10, the New York State Division of Human Rights accused the building owners, Clinton Housing West 46th Partners, of “willful, wanton and malicious conduct” for their treatment of Phil Harris, 58. 

The suit also named the Clinton Housing Development Company, which manages the building, as a defendant in the case. 

Harris said the street noise heard in his second-floor studio which overlooks West 46th Street exacerbated his conditions, including insomnia and severe anxiety.  

“What [the noise] does, it triggers,” said Harris, who moved into the studio in 2007 after years in a homeless shelter and on the street. “I used to shake.”

Despite the availability of quieter units not overlooking the street, the landlords denied his “reasonable requests” as a person with disabilities, according to the suit.

The lawsuit says the building owners lied and said such units were not available. The complaint also says that front desk workers disclosed Harris’ HIV-positive status to other residents.  

Harris said he grew up in a violent household and had faced many hardships in his life.

He said that while he was grateful to have a heavily subsidized place to live, the noise concerned him. An artist and jewelry maker, Harris said he is illiterate and wasn’t sure if a caseworker or his psychiatrist had helped him to file a complaint to the state in 2011.  

Harris has carefully designed his studio, which is adorned with mirrors, a pair of red-lacquered doors and a black-and-white awning. Neatly organized boxes of beads line the hall. He sleeps on the wood floor.

He makes men’s jewelry to “keep his sanity” after a breakup with his longtime partner left him homeless and destitute, he said.

The state's Division of Human Rights said it would not comment on pending litigation. West 46th Partners and the CHDC did not respond to a request for comment.

The state is suing for $10,000 for Harris and $100,000 for itself. It also requests that Harris be moved to a larger, quieter unit, but Harris, having taken such pains to make his space livable over the last seven years, is unsure. 

“When I move out of here I want to move out of Clinton Housing," he said.