Racist Slumlord Sues CAAAV for $20 Million

This is an edited press release from CAAAV
2/2/02

On January 22nd, Benjamin Shaoul served Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence (CAAAV) with a $20 million lawsuit. Shaoul, who has been trying to evict low-income tenants in at 166 Elizabeth Street through harassment and intimidation, alleges that CAAAV has caused him "severe emotional distress."

Chinatown Tenants Face Displacement
166 Elizabeth Street is a 22-unit tenement building on the border between Chinatown and SoHo. Until recently, it was occupied by Chinese and Dominican immigrants, and its previous owner failed to maintain the building in habitable conditions and left it in a state of neglect.

In March 2000, the 23-year old Shaoul, through his Elizabeth Realty entity bought the building. Since buying the building Shaoul has begun eviction proceedings against seven of the eleven Chinese tenants in the building, pressured other tenants with buy-outs, and cut off gas for more than four months. Shaoul has converted vacant units in the building into luxury housing, where new tenants pay illegal rents as high as $2~3000 a month -- double or triple the former rent.

Shaoul has also personally abused and threatened his tenants. He has forced his way into his tenants' homes, grabbed their wallets to look for their IDs; threatened to call the INS, and even accused the tenants of neglecting their children and tried to have a state agency take away their kids.

He has also retaliated against tenants and organizers for their organizing activities, and has repeatedly made racist remarks: "I have nothing against Chinese people; I just don't want so many of them in my building."

Slumlord Suit 2 (Tenants Fight Back)