Spooky Queens artist says neighbors are the real nightmare
Who’s the monster now?
A quirky Queens artist whose neighbors reported him to cops for hanging a zombie-like mannequin outside his home is suing the neighbors for $50 million, claiming they are haunting him with surveillance cameras and bogus domestic violence reports, according to a new lawsuit.
Shlomo Klopfer, 62 — who spooked his Kew Gardens neighbors Jennifer Feldman and Walter Birkheld in July when he installed the display — claims they also falsely reported him to authorities for abusing his wife and kids, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Queens civil court.
“They have literally destroyed the [Klopfer’s] family, his life, and have caused him economic damages in the millions of dollars,” the lawsuit states.
His neighbors’ false abuse complaint — filed with the state’s Department of Child and Family Services in October 2018 — was ultimately proven to be untrue, according to the court papers.
But the investigation put so much “emotional distress” on the artist’s family, it led to his kids being forced to move out of his home, the lawsuit states, without going into detail.
Klopfer also claims the couple infringed on his privacy by installing eight cameras facing his backyard “in order to spy on his activities,” according to the court papers.
“He is under twenty-four-hour surveillance in his private back yard,” where he has “produced some of his finest works of art,” according to the suit.
In total, the couple has reported Klopfer to police at least 50 times — including to complain about his sometimes “scary” artwork — according to the court documents.
Ultimately, the whole ordeal caused Klopfer to suffer panic attacks and depression, hindering his ability to work, and causing him a huge financial blow, he claims.
“My client has been abused by his neighbor[s] long enough,” his lawyer, Yoni Levoritz, told The Post Wednesday. “It is time for [them] to turn her cameras off [and] stop infringing on his rights and privacy.”
The nightmare on 147th Street began last year when Feldman asked Klopfer to remove a sign on his fence that read “Dead End” because it “creeped” out her then 6-year-old daughter, she has said.
From there, the fight escalated with Feldman telling The Post in July that her daughter can’t sleep due to the monster display and that “the whole thing is a nightmare.”
Reached at their home, Feldman and Birkheld declined to comment because they had not yet seen a copy of the suit.
