By Joseph Ax, New York | Fri, August 5, 2011, 4:18 AM CEST
New York (Reuters) - It seems his rent is damnably low. Jimmy McMillan, known for his Abercrombie plaid shirts, who ran as a gubernatorial candidate in New York in 2010 and founded the "Rent Is Too Damn High" party, is being targeted by his landlord to evict him from his rent-regulated apartment in the trendy East Village of Manhattan in order to raise the rent. The landlord has filed court papers to evict him, claiming that McMillan's primary residence is in Brooklyn, not Manhattan, and thus he should not continue to benefit from rent control. McMillan said, "It’s a groundless case," stated the loquacious activist, whose combination of white mustache-and-sideburns, black gloves, and unforgettable soundbites during last year's election debates made him a celebrity in New York. "This is my apartment... If I choose to live out of it for a year, that's my business. If I put my butt in the door and stick windscreen posters up, if I put my face in the window and stick 'rent is too high' posters up, it's none of their business." McMillan claims that the Brooklyn address serves as headquarters for his party and that the St. Marks Place apartment remains his residence. His unemployed son continues to live there, he said. The building's landlord could not be reached for comment. McMillan said he has rented the apartment since the 1970s and now pays a monthly rent of $872.96 www.abercrombiefitchgermany.net, though his last three rent checks were sent back. He said he instructed his lawyer, whose name he couldn't recall offhand, to file a countersuit against the landlord. (Edited by Barbara Goldberg and Jerry Norton)
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