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What Convicted Child Rapist Is Also An Upper West Side Apartment Building Superintendent?
February 1, 2010 by Neil · 8 Comments
William Barnason, 57, has keys for the more than 50 apartments in the three apartment buildings he runs on behalf of apartment building owner Stanley Katz.
According to the NY Post:
In September 1987, Barnason — already in prison for sexually abusing a 5-year-old girl — was sentenced to 10 to 20 years after pleading guilty to rape, sodomy and sexual-abuse charges related to an attack on three Suffolk County girls between ages 5 and 7.
Barnason — who was denied parole four times before his 2001 release — made other children watch him abuse the girls, a Suffolk County prosecutor said at the time.
Barnason is superintendent at three buildings: 144 W. 73rd Street, 140 W. 75th Street, and 142 W. 75th Street.
Even if Barnason is the best superintendent in the history of superintendents, the last sentence of the article was mind-boggling:
Katz’s lawyer, Santo Golino, said the landlord denies the allegations and only recently learned of Barnason’s criminal history. He said there were no plans to dismiss him.
How to explain this?
Katz: (1) is clairvoyant about Barnason’s future tendencies; (2) keeps Barnason under lock and key when he’s not being chaperoned by off-duty police officers during work hours; (3) has had Barnason castrated; (4) has unbelievable liability insurance.
Putting morality and common sense aside, it defies comprehension that Katz would keep such a liability risk on his payroll. He might as well stop salting the steps to his buildings and the sidewalks whenever it snows.
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You are telling me about it. Try living in one of the buildings….
What have your personal experiences been? What have your fellow tenants been saying/thinking?
Thanks for writing/reading.
Neil
We have ones that said he has done his time, I get that. But issue is he is still behaving similarly. Maybe not children anymore but females. Grown females. He tried to hurt me in August of 2009, but thankfully didn’t succed because a neighbor intervened. These people aren’t in the real estate business, they are in business of exploiting women. And if one doesn’t get with “the program” then one must be gotten rid of.
Thanks for coming forward with your insights.
What exactly do you mean, “he tried to hurt me?”
When you speak of “grown females,” do you know this from reading articles about him, from speaking firsthand to other victimized women, or from other neighbors sharing information?
What made you decide not to press charges?
What made you decide to write in here now?
I look forward to your thoughtful reply.
Neil
Dear Neil:
Thank you spreading the “SOS” – Sex Offender Super.
Barnason was caught trying to take a young woman into the basement/cellar in August around 1 a.m., by a tenant who just happened to be out on the stoop- the young woman was incoherent – possibly drugged? I called the police the next morning after a confrontation with Barnason and Katz’s son- and had to plead with officers to take a report. The young woman tried to make a report but police officers were skeptical at best. Barnason fled when I called 911- Katz’s son shmoozed the police, telling them that we were deadbeat tenants who were being evicted and we were just making up stories to harass the landlord. When I told officers that the son had called me a freeloading whore and then said “the marshall is coming and he’s going to throw you and all your s*&% in the street” and that I wanted to make a harassment complaint, the male officer told me that the landlord could say anything he wanted- it was his first amendment right! I replied that he certainly did not have the right to slander me nor threaten me which didn’t exactly endear me to that officer. Nonetheless, after much pleading, the female officer relented and took a report.
This is the only report on file with police. It certainly isn’t the first or only time residents have gone to police- I’ve made several attempts to file harassment charges only to be told that the police don’t get involved in “civil matters” i.e., Landlord/Tenant disputes. The young woman who escaped who knows what was told to seek legal advice.
Yes, there are other victims whom I know personally and it is because of them that I have spoken to the press and why I will continue speaking about this situation- why didn’t I speak up sooner? I have. But speaking up doesn’t do much good if no one is listening. Thanks to Dan Mangan, Robert Miller and the New York Post people are listening. According to long time neighborhood supers, residents and landlords it is a blessed relief- a lot of people are afraid of this landlord- and they say that Barnason is not the first really scary super Katz has employed.
My case was “lost” as of February 1st. Because New Yorkers listened I made a last ditch effort in housing court which was rewarded on the 18th. The judge vacated the eviction and is going to make a final determination after the 26th of February. Hopefully, the ruling will be favorable- and if it is, it is going to make a tremendous difference to the current tenants, past residents and tenants and to landlords from every neighborhood in the greatest city in the world.
This isn’t just about Barnason and women and children. It’s about respect for one another- it’s about our dignity and it’s about looking out for one another. I’ve gone through some terrible things in my life- and I’ve experienced happiness beyond my imagination at other times- this situation- this situation demoralized me. It made me question humanity.
There are people who say that Barnason did his time- and paid for his crimes 20 years ago- I don’t agree with that idea nonetheless had Barnason conducted himself in a manner beyond reproach, I dare say his past would not be part of his present. Barnason’s behavior since his release from prison has not proved him trustworthy around anyone, male or female, of any age, that Barnason deems weak. Barnason preys on those he deems vulnerable and without protection.
That Barnason has the protection of Katz while the tenants do not, is truly mind-boggling.
Thank you, very much for your interest and concern.
Kind Regards,
Carol Engle
Carol,
Thanks so much for your thoughtful post. I encourage you and your fellow tenants, especially those with firsthand information, to continue posting.
My mind reels at the stories I’ve been reading.
Cynical readers have already expressed their views to me that every one of the women complaining has some pre-existing rent dispute.
How would you respond to that?
Continued thanks for your thoughtful posts.
Neil
Neil:
Thank you for the thoughtful reply!
How many women are “complaining” according to your cynical readers? “Every woman” has “some pre-existing rent dispute?” I’m only aware of one other “dispute.”
I’ve heard this argument from the landlords attorney, the landlords son and a tenant in a single room who wants me to move out so she can move in to a studio. I don’t think this is a very popular point of view but it does make for some interesting conversation! However, II believe most New Yorkers understand that women don’t make allegations of this magnitude in “rent disputes.”
Thank you letting me respond!
Kind Regards,
Carol
Carol,
I encourage you and your fellow tenants to use this website as your forum.
Please keep our readers up to date on your experiences.
Have a good and safe week.
Neil