The Eviction of Mary Filan: When The Trump Organisation Ousted a Widow from Her Home

For more than 30 years, Mary Filan — a widowed 74-year-old woman semi-paralysed from a recent stroke — had lived in Apartment 6B, 143-15 Barclay Avenue, in Flushing, Queens. Her flat was modest, but it was home. Living alone on a fixed income from Social Security and a telephone company pension, her monthly earnings totalled less than $500. Her rent, which remained under $200, allowed her to remain independent.

That all changed on the afternoon of Friday, 25 April 1980.

“They rang and rang… and walked in”

At around 5 p.m., Mary was still in bed when the doorbell began ringing persistently. She later recalled:

“They rang the bell… and I was still in bed. I don’t get up much unless I have to. They rang and rang, and when I got to the door they pushed it open and walked in, these three big fat men. They went right in the kitchen and started pulling out drawers, turning ’em upside down into one of these big cartons.”

The men were acting on behalf of City Marshal Norman Katz. Accompanied by police officers, they began removing her belongings — her sofa, chairs, television, jewellery, dishes, and silverware — and loading them into a waiting truck. They left behind only a laundry hamper for her to sit on. Pinned to her front door was an eviction notice, served at the behest of her landlords: the Trump Organisation.

Filan insisted she had paid her rent. She said:

“They said they’d come to put me on the street because I owed four months rent. I don’t owe back rent. The last thing I got from Trump was a bill for $10.20 about two weeks ago, and I sent that. They just want me out because they can get twice as much rent.”

A Community Steps In

Despite efforts by the authorities to get her to vacate the property, Filan initially refused. She was distressed and confused. It took the intervention of her neighbour, Bob Hennessy, to persuade her to leave temporarily and stay in his apartment.

“She was distraught,” said Hennessy. By Monday, he was still unable to discover where her belongings had been taken.

With assistance from her doctor and the Human Resources Administration, Mary was admitted to Parsons Hospital. At least there, she had a bed and care.

Silence from Trump Headquarters

The Trump Organisation at the time was a formidable presence in New York’s property landscape. Under the control of the young and ambitious Donald Trump, the company had inherited considerable holdings from his father Fred. It had also benefited from extensive state patronage, including over $800,000 for brokering a convention centre deal and $160 million in tax exemptions for the renovation of the old Commodore Hotel.

Asked to comment on the eviction, a Trump spokesperson deflected responsibility:

“The Trumps don’t get involved in any of that,” he said. “The management corporation handles that kind of thing. It’s part of the company, but the Trumps don’t get involved with individual cases.”

When pressed, he insisted:

“The Trump Organisation doesn’t evict people indiscriminately,” but could offer no explanation as to why Filan — who gave no parties, caused no damage, and was liked by her neighbours — had been evicted. He referred reporters to another number, which rang unanswered.

Trump Evicts Widow: Part II

On 12 May 1980, The Village Voice followed up on the story. After media coverage cast the incident in a negative light, a Trump representative visited Filan at Parsons Hospital. He offered her a new apartment — but not in Queens. The offer was for a flat in Orange, New Jersey.

Meanwhile, Filan’s social worker, Mickey Ridlon, and her neighbour Hennessy had located her possessions. They were found dumped at a Sanitation Department depot in Woodside. Most items were badly damaged or destroyed.

“They ruined practically everything,” said Gary Isko, aide to Manhattan Councilman Tony Olivieri. “There were broken glasses, broken plates, and broken pictures all piled in boxes. All of her furniture was broken.”

Ridlon added:

“It’s just a complete horror show. Her furniture has been mutilated beyond belief. Her clothes are crawling with roaches from the warehouse. This is 31 years of building a home destroyed in a couple of hours.”

Filan also discovered that a number of personal items were missing — including a watch left by her late husband, a pair of silver candlesticks, and most significantly, her rent receipts. Those receipts may have proved her claim that she had not been in arrears and that the eviction was unlawful.

A Department of Social Services official, speaking anonymously, commented that he had never seen an eviction like it in 25 years:

“Ordinarily, evictions don’t take place on Friday afternoons or in inclement weather, nor are bedridden tenants evicted in this fashion.”

But in this case, the eviction had taken place in the pouring rain — on a Friday, at 5 p.m.

An Offer She Could Refuse

Filan’s congressman, Ben Rosenthal, began looking into the matter. At the time of publication, Mary Filan was undecided about whether to accept the Trump Organisation’s offer or seek accommodation in an adult home.

Two lingering questions remained in the minds of observers: How would Donald Trump have responded if his own ageing, ill parent had been treated in such a fashion? And how was it that a man receiving millions in public subsidies could allow a vulnerable woman to be evicted without notice or compassion?

Filan’s stay at Parsons Hospital was paid for by Medicare and Medicaid — a reminder that while Trump’s developments were underwritten by the taxpayer, so too was the aftermath of this eviction.

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