Back in July, we reported on an escalating feud between Queens neighbors, two embattled parties who had spent months steadily ratcheting up the pettiness in an extended reputational war. At the time, we predicted that — as is so often the case with stand-offs involving strategically deployed mannequins — this bitter battle would not just flame out and be forgotten. Reader, welcome to Volume II: The Lawsuit, in which an outraged homeowner exacts his revenge.
To get you up to speed, a quick recap: Shlomo Klopfer and his wife, Ilana, live in Kew Gardens Hills, next to Jennifer Feldman and Walter Birkheld. This summer, Feldman spoke to the NY Post and NY 1 about Klopfer's allegedly confrontational use of signs on his property. In August 2018, she recalled, he had refused to remove a "Dead End" placard from his fence, even after she told him it "creeped" out her 6-year-old. Instead, Klopfer (who told the Post he just "loves signs, man") expanded his collection. Because a new sign seemed to follow every 311 call she made complaining about her neighbor, Feldman interpreted the additions as shots fired. And once a ghoulish mannequin appeared on Klopfer's property, its hand hovering over a rotary phone with "311" spray-painted on its base in blood-red, Feldman began to feel threatened. The Halloween creature had been positioned to stare directly through one of her windows, you see.
Remember?
"The whole thing is a nightmare," in that it caused her daughter to scream in the night and prevented her from sleeping, Feldman told the Post. She also speculated that Klopfer's apparent ire toward her might have had something to do with her interfaith marriage, an assertion Klopfer, a chaplain, firmly denied.
According to his lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Queens County Civil Court, that particular contention has haunted Klopfer, wrecking his reputation at the expense of his landscaping business and his health. Further, his complaint states, Feldman and Birkheld have trained eight "spy" cameras on his backyard, which just so happens to be Klopfer's preferred spot for making art and relaxing with his wife. And! According to the court documents, Feldman and Birkheld also filed a complaint with the New York Department of Child and Family Services, which — although it was ultimately proven unfounded — caused Klopfer's kids to move out.
All told, the lawsuit states, Feldman and Birkheld's "actions have destroyed the Plaintiff's family, his mental health, his physical health and his business, and they should be made to compensate the Plaintiff for the destruction they have caused." Those damages, according to the complaint, amount to a bold $10 million minimum.
Perhaps you find that price a little steep, but according to Klopfer, being defamed as a "nightmare neighbor" and an "aggressive" bigot in the press — on top of the domestic abuse allegations — has driven clients away from his art and landscaping enterprises. Adding insult to injury, the cameras Feldman and Birkheld set up mean he can neither swim in his pool nor flex his creative muscles without feeling his neighbors' eyes upon him. His lawsuit states: "By inexplicably installing cameras to monitor and record the Plaintiff, his Wife and his guests, in his private backyard, the Defendants have invaded the Plaintiff's right to privacy and extinguished his right to enjoy his private property."
Further, the complaint alleges, "The Defendants knowingly aimed their cameras in areas where the intimate acts of the Plaintiff and his Wife would be seen and now can no longer be performed causing further emotional damage to the Plaintiff. ...Placing a camera on a private backyard pool is the equivalent of putting a camera in the bedroom of the parties and serves no legitimate or lawful purposes, except to prevent the Plaintiff and his Wife from enjoying their private time together and to harass the Plaintiff and invade his privacy."
👀
As a result of this "constant barrage of attacks," the complaint contends, Klopfer "has suffered from panic attacks and depression, which has impacted his ability to work, and caused a severe impact on him financially." Speaking to the NY Post, Feldman and Birkheld said they hadn't seen the lawsuit yet and could not comment. But, as you can see, these are big accusations. We will keep you abreast of any rebuttals as the situation develops/devolves...
