Loretta Gendville
Loretta Gendville
Loretta Gendville is the founder of brooklyn toy store chain Area Kids. Before founding Area Kids in 2003, Gendville was a masseuse. In July 2020, tenants living in a house owned by a Gendville and her husband said their landlords harassed them and attempted to illegally evict them from their Crown Heights townhouse.[7]
Support of Bernie Sanders
Gendville was a supporter of Bernie Sanders for President in 2015, even though his rival Hillary Clinton shops at her store. She has said: "Hillary Clinton is, you know, more in the game with all of the corporations, which I'm against."
Arrest at Whole Foods
On February 10, 2017, Gendville was caught at Gowanus Whole Foods stealing $1,149 in beauty supplies, clothing, food, healthcare items and music LPs. [1]
Harassment and Illegal Eviction Attempts Allegations
In July 2020, four tenants said the landlords - Loretta Gendville and her husband, Gennaro Brooks-Church attempted to evict them from the Dean Street house without any paperwork from the housing court and tried to forcibly move into the house while their tenants were still living there.
"Gennaro walked into my room while I was asleep and started demanding rent and asked for my other roommates - that's not okay, I don't have to say that," said Manar Balh, a tenant since August 2019.
"They're very hostile, very rude, very condescending - they make us feel like we're the crazy ones for being hurt."[7][8]
The tenants said the landlords originally agreed to stop charging rent in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic after many of the residents lost work.
However, Scout Gottlieb, a tenant since April, said that the landlords later demanded back rent, telling tenants they would be selling the building and that they needed to move out.
Earlier, the remaining four tenants - who do not have a lease and have been paying rent month-to-month - said they reached an agreement with the landlords that they would have one month to vacate the building unbothered.
Days later, the landlords walked into the dwelling unannounced with their entire family, two maintenance men, and a dog in tow, the tenants said.
One tenant was recovering from brain surgery at the time of the barge in, the residents said.
Gottlieb alleged that Gendville swung open the door to her bedroom while she was getting changed and placed her hands on her when she tried to shut the door.
"I was startled and ran to go close [the door] and what she did was essentially grab my wrist to prevent me from closing the door," Gottlieb said.
"I was terrified."
Gottleib also claimed that Gendville brought a crowd of people into the hallway outside her bedroom whom she had to push past to get away from her landlord.
"I was essentially pushing past all these people afraid for my life because I honestly did not know if they were physically capable of hurting me," she said.
"I sprinted up the stairs and started screaming, 'Help!
On July 7, 2020, several dozen locals gathered outside the Dean Street building to rally alongside the tenants.
Protesters chanted "Hey hey!
Ho ho!
Gennaro Brooks has got to go!" while Brooks-Church sat on the stoop of the building in flip-flops and basketball shorts, alternating between recording the protesters and taking phone calls.
Protesters eventually moved onto the stoop and into the house, where they were technically allowed in as "guests" of the tenants.
Brooks-Church left the scene around 9:30 p.m., but sent locksmiths to the building to change the locks.
The locksmiths allegedly assaulted multiple protesters before they were driven off, according to Imani Henry, a local organizer with the group Equality for Flatbush.
The activists were eventually able to stall the eviction for the time being.[7][8]