Firm leader faces 'preposterous' grand larceny case in removal of cameras outside home of client, 93
Updated: A New York lawyer doesn’t appear to be contesting a claim that he removed security cameras trained on the front door of a 93-year-old woman embroiled in a landlord-tenant dispute.
But Manhattan attorney Arthur Schwartz says the fact that he himself is now facing a grand larceny case over the cameras is “preposterous,” the New York Daily News reports.
Schwartz, who serves as the woman’s guardian, explained that he notified police and promptly turned the equipment over to the state attorney general’s office, which he hopes will investigate a possible harassment case.
“All I did was terminate the harassment,” Schwartz told the New York Law Journal (sub. req.). “I didn’t steal anything.”
He is the founder of the Advocates for Justice public interest firm, the legal publication notes.
Schwartz surrendered to police Tuesday and appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court in his own criminal case later in the day. He was released without bond.
“I’m the guardian for a … woman who was being harassed by her landlord,” Schwartz told the Daily News following the court hearing. “All I did was abate the harassment and turn the materials over to the attorney general.”
His client is paying about $700 a month to rent a penthouse apartment in a rent-stabilized building at 95 Christopher Street. At a market rate, rent for the unit might be about $7,000 a month, the newspaper says.
Updated on July 15 to include and accord with information from New York Law Journal article.
