An 85-year-old grandmother of two who's lived in Little Italy for more than 50 years is fighting possible eviction in a rent dispute over her current monthly rate of $820.
Adele Sarno has lived in her two-bedroom, second-floor walkup off Mulberry and Grand for decades after moving into the building with her father in 1962. A proud lifelong Little Italy resident, she was even named Queen of the San Gennaro Festival back in 1942.
In a cruel twist of irony, the landlord that wants to evict her is the Italian-American Museum.
"Tell me why you want to throw me out, I'm Italian," said Sarno.
She's been fighting the museum's attempts to raise her $820-a-month rent to a competitive market rate of about $3,500.
"I'd rather be a bag lady than go live with people," she said. "I can't pay the rent in this neighborhood."
A spokesman for the Italian American Museum said a civil court judge ruled that she is not entitled to rent control or stabilization here.
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In a statement, the Italian American Museum said that based on the court's findings, "the Museum will pursue its plans for expansion, and continue to serve as an anchor institution for the Italian American legacy in Little Italy."
That civil court judge relied on the earlier findings of an administrative law judge in the Division of Housing and Community Renewal, which showed that Sarno couldn't prove continuous residency at the apartment, and so could not qualify for rent protection.
But Sarno's supporters say that's not the point.
"What they're doing is wrong," said one neighbor, among many who are urging compassion from the museum and its trustees for one of Little Italy's oldest residents.
"She's 85 years old, how much more time does she have on this earth?" said John Fratta of the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council.
Sarno has another court date next month to delay what she calls the inevitable and only hopes that St. Jude, the patron saint of hopeless cases, will look kindly on hers.
"If I'm gonna die, let me die here," she said.
