Eddie Shiew, the Queens landlord whose tenants converted a three-bedroom apartment into ten-bedrooms has spoken out about the ordeal.
His most poignant comment about the situation?
"This is the worst thing that's happened to me in my life," Shiew said.
Is it possible that he's being dramatic? Well, if you recall, all circumstances of this case have been drowning in a dark tornado of drama. Of course Shiew's comment is dramatic: the whole thing's been dramatic.
Burak Firik and Dogan Kimilli, the tenants who rented the three-bedroom apartment from Shiew for $2,500 a month, moved in. Shortly after, another tenant alerted Shiew that the third floor seemed to be undergoing serious renovations.
Shiew then investigated, just to discover that Firik and Kimili had divided the apartment with sheetrock, turning the three bedrooms into ten. This investigation was quickly followed by another: Shiew found out the rooms were being listed on Airbnb.
How'd Shiew handle this slew of shocks? He demolished the walls and changed the locks. He attempted to evict Firik and Kimilli.
Firik and Kimilli, of course, didn't quit. They acquired a court order that allowed them to re-enter the apartment.
[anad]
Then, they re-divided the rooms, using sheets instead of sheetrock this time.
Luckily for the voyeur in all of us, PIX-11 posted a video that allows us inside the apartment. We went in, and guess who they found in the apartment? That's right. Airbnb customers.
Now watch the video below. It's just as fascinating as we had hoped.
In closing, all we can really say about this entire situation is you might want to use Oliver, that brilliant no-fee, no-broker app to find your next New York City apartment instead.
Check out How Many New Yorkers Illegally Make $100K/Year on Airbnb.
[via Pix 11]