Can you feel it? The wave of schadenfreude rippling through the dowdy real estate brokerages and glass-faced, wood-paneled developers’ suites of the city? Look no further than the comments on industry organ The Real Deal. The news that Jimmy McMillan might be evicted from a rent-controlled apartment in the East Village has shocked and delighted the real estate community. His landlord has taken him to court, but the evidence against him is littered across the Internet.
Look no further than YouTube, where at least one video of Mr. McMillan declaring Brooklyn as his home borough, not Manhattan, dating to his running for mayor in 2005:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbNbbDLUxaU&version=3&hl=en_US]
The Observer also recalls a video of Mr. McMillan driving around Flatbush, talking about his home and pointing out attractions. We were unable to find it—if you do, please send it along—but there is this video from the Post, the same publication that broke today’s news, where Mr. McMillan is referred to as “a Brooklynite.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L7bwT8kr2w&version=3&hl=en_US]
This is not to say Mr. McMillan has no right to his East Village apartment. The Post refers back to a Times article from last year, where Mr. McMillan also talks about living at 1996 Nostrand Avenue rent free, but the tab fails to mention something the broadsheet does—that Mr. McMillan’s “unemployed son” lives in the St. Mark’s Place apartment, a practice generally admissible in rent-regulated apartments.
As Mr. McMillan puts it to the Post, “It’s a trick they all play. I’m not going to let them get away with it. You don’t tell an American how to live.”
![Jimmy McMillan: ‘I Live in Brooklyn’ [Video]](http://observer.com/wp-content/themes/newyorkobserver-2014/images/observer-logo-2015.png){kind=logo}