Residents of a Riverside Drive co-op have filed a lawsuit to gain access to an apartment where two individuals were found dead this past summer (Google Maps)
Residents at a building on Riverside Drive have filed a lawsuit against the NYPD to gain access to an apartment where two residents were found dead this summer. Building occupants want access to the apartment, which has been sealed shut since June, “in order to clean, remove garbage, potentially fumigate and exterminate, clean up the possible fluids from the body, and to remove any spoiled food and perishable items.”
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The lawsuit against the NYPD states that “there are currently terrible, foul odors coming from the apartment, and possible vermin and roaches in or around the premises,” according to Gothamist, which first reported the news.
The first floor unit at 370 Riverside Drive (on the corner of West 109th Street) has been sealed off since police removed the bodies of 92-year-old Alice Osman and her 64-year-old nephew, Steven Osman. The pair reportedly died of natural causes. The police have been unable to identify the apartment’s rightful owner or the Osmans next-of-kin, which Gothamist reports is why the apartment is sealed.
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The building has eighty units, ten of which have sold for more than $1,500,000 since 2018.
An NYPD spokesperson told Gothamist that no one can be allowed access to the apartment without approval from the Manhattan Surrogate’s Court, the government agency responsible for identifying heirs and next-of-kin.
One 370 Riverside tenant told Gothamist that the situation has led to cockroaches entering her apartment.
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“They should let them get in there and clean it up. I don’t know what the state of it is, but it’s probably not good.”
A representative from a local company that cleans up crime scenes told Gothamist they’ve dealt with similar situations in the past, and that both the company and the landlord can be arrested if the apartment’s seal is broken without permission.
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