An Upper East Side locksmith blocked from using his own restroom can’t seem to find the key to solving a legal battle with his landlord.
“I don’t have a prostate. When I need a bathroom, I need a bathroom. I’m 65 years old. I’m a grandfather,” said Menashe Sofer, owner of Night and Day Locksmith on Lexington Avenue at 89th Street. “Why are you putting me through this?”
The small shop he has owned since 1978 includes a bathroom and storage room in a basement shared with the adjacent deli. When the deli became vacant four years ago, the landlord began renovations, shutting off the water and tanking his toilet access for months.
The new owner then sold the building’s commercial units to Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp., which allowed Sofer to get his bathroom back — as long as he ponied up $800 to restore the water and repair it, he says.
A construction mishap caused the bathroom ceiling to cave in, filling the room with concrete and debris, about a month later.
Ashkenazy fixed the bathroom, but later cut the electrical wires, Sofer alleges.
Sofer and his 75-year-old manager “have suffered humiliating accidents in the store, which is not only demoralizing and demeaning, but it directly affects their ability to conduct business,” according to court papers.