The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1923-10-26
SUES TENANTS
FOR USING ROOF
Landlord Says Crowd Watching
Picture Show Damages
Building.

New York.-Whether u landlord
ha, right to prevent tenants from
congregating nightly on the roof with
from 100 to POO friends for free
view of an outdoor moving picture
show next door is to be decided in the
Supreme court as the result of suit
filed by Jacob London, owner of the
two six-story tenement houses at 54
and 90 West One Hundred and Six
teenth street. adjoining theater,
which operates an outdoor moving
picture show on the roof all summer.
Mr.. London in his complaint asks
for an injunction restraining fifteen
tenants. all named as defendants,
from cOngregating on the roof at any
time to witness moving picture per-
formances; from holding meetings Or
assemblages on the roof; from gather,
ing collectively on the roof for social
or amusement purposes; from occupy
ing windows connected with the COM
mon halls to witness moving picture
performances; from inviting, solicit
ing, encouraging or urging persons to
bSSCiuDlc Will luclll, SlthCt OI liz
roofs or in the halls, on the stoop
or at the hall windows to witness NOV
ing picture performances or for any
unlawful purpose, and from continu-
ing to perpetrate alleged damage, in
jury or loss to plaintiffs property.
Many Views Shown Free.
Isaac Stanislaw, agent of the prop
erty, said in an affidavit that there
are "a tenants in each of the houses,
which were built II years ago. The
roofs were recently recovered with
plastic slate rubber at cost of S7OO.
The agent said that each night from
80 to II 80 o'clock the defendants
congregated on the roof adjoining the
theater, paying no heed to the watch
man who ordered them away. They
took chairs, boxes and other objects
to the roof he said, and invited
friends and relatives, sometimes AS
many as 200 to see the show for
nothing.
THE roofs are not rented to the
defendants, said the agent, land are
liC NANiRSifN PiVICiis VI thS l'io''tiiA'
None of the defendants has license or
authority to go on the roofs for any
purpose, and deponent has made We
hement protest"
Alleged damage done by the nightly |
roof parties, he said, was as follows:
Coping on westerly wall of No. So |
entirely broken; roof damaged in va |
rious places; vent pipes broken from |
their bearings; bricks over the stair |
way leading to the roof demolished
Reports Building Damaged.
The agent said it would be neces-
sary to remove the entire roof cover
ng and raise the roofs to the proper
evel, because they had sagged under
he weight Of the film watchers. He
said there was danger Of damage from
water leaking through the broken
'oofs into the buildings Repairs
nay cost thousands Of dollars, he
added.
The agent said that when he first
earned of the roof parties, he found
Is persons there, but they would not
move when he asked them to, saying
they would go up there as much as
hey pleased, and If the landlord
lidn't like it he could sell the house,
or they would not stay off the roof
or anybody The agent got police
nan, but the tenants refused to bulge
ntil threatened with arrest, the agent
aid Since then, he said. "the tenants
ad been up there every night, and :
ad broken down all the barriers he
ut to keep them off"
The janitor said in an affidavit that
ne roof-going tenants threatened him
nth bodily harm If he interfered, and
ttacked the theater Waterman, who
led to get them off.