From the “truth is stranger than fiction” file comes a real doozy from New York.
Here goes. A New York man is currently fighting to retain his ownership of a well-known building that he inherited from his mother, but not before allegedly threatening to go to extreme lengths to keep her from selling the building, reportedly telling her that the sale of the building would leave him homeless, drive him to commit suicide, or perhaps even worse, to become a journalist.
DNAinfo.com has the whole story, and it’s a head scratcher of the highest order.
Here’s just a bit of DNAinfo’s James Fanelli on the story of Lorcan Otway and the home on St. Mark’s Place:
When Lorcon Otway learned in 2007 that his mother planned to sell the storied St. Mark’s Place property where he grew up and still lived, he objected, claiming he and his wife would be left homeless.
He also told his mother that if the streets didn’t kill him, then he would commit suicide.
Then Otway, 60, ratcheted up his threats, claiming that the prospective sale would have an even direr consequence — he’d become a journalist.
He told his mother he’d go to Afghanistan as a war correspondent and she would have to take out a life insurance policy to take care of his wife if his foray into one of the most dangerous parts of the world proved fatal.
The details of Otway’s threats came to light in a court filing over the ownership of the St. Mark’s Place property, which has been in Otway’s family since 1965.
Otway and his brother are currently engaged in a legal battle over who owns the building, with Otway’s brother, Thomas, claiming that Lorcan coerced his ailing mother into transferring the deed to him in 2010.
The building itself has more than just residences. According to the DNAinfo article, the building is also home to a 160-seat theater, a “speakeasy-inspired” tavern (built in ode the building’s infamous history) and the Museum of the American Gangster.
The whole story is amazing and you really owe it to yourself to read the whole thing, so click over here and check it out.
