MANHATTAN HOUSING COURT — Hollywood has been good to Faye Dunaway, but the legendary actress will not give up her rent-stabilized Upper East Side apartment without a fight because the Big Apple is her true home, her attorney said Thursday.
Elizabeth Shollenberger said the 70-year-old Academy Award winner — who did not show up to a court date Thursday for her eviction proceeding — is set on keeping her pad at 314 E. 78th St. and still considers New York the place she wants to be, even though she also has a home in West Hollywood.
"She says New York is her home," Shollenberger told reporters before the housing court proceeding. Dunaway, the lawyer said, is currently working on the West Coast and was unable to attend, adding, "her work takes her all over the world."
Shollenberger said she might argue that Dunaway has the right to remain in the apartment as a "snowbird" tenant who constantly travels for work.
She said that the landlord cannot boot her client from the building until the court proceeding. A trial or a settlement could still be a while off.
While the "Bonnie and Clyde" star hasn't abandoned the walk-up apartment, which has water damage, toilet problems and is in need of other repairs, she isn't currently occupying it, the lawyer said.
"She agrees to pay ongoing rent and they agree to leave her alone," while the case winds its way through the court system, Shollenberger said.
Her son, Liam O'Neill, had reportedly also been living in the apartment.
The landlord, Henry Moses Jr., was in court for the appearance but did not comment to reporters.
Moses Jr. filed an eviction claim against Dunaway for claiming she could no longer occupy the $1048.72-per-month apartment because her primary residence is in California.
Rent-stabilized apartments are coveted in New York because landlords are strictly limited in how high they can hike their rents from year to year. A rent-stabilized apartment generally rents significantly below its market value.
The parties are due back in court on Oct. 4.