A 72-year-old rent-stabilized tenant at 85 East End Avenue is accused in a new Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit of terrorizing a string of families in the building with late-night banging, screamed threats and repeated police calls — all while allegedly owing nearly $88,000 in back rent. The filing, lodged on October 26, names Anne Stockton, who has lived in the Upper East Side building's 10th-floor apartment since 1992, and accuses her of driving at least three households out of their homes over more than a decade.
The building's owner filed the suit, which seeks at least $550,000 in damages and legal fees, according to the New York Post. The suit claims Stockton pays just $1,775 a month in rent but has made no major payments since 2022, with a rent ledger showing only sporadic payments dating back to 2018. She disputes the nearly $88,000 in arrears cited in the litigation. A Manhattan judge has already signed a temporary restraining order barring Stockton from unreasonable noise, assault, menacing, intimidation or threats against the family now living above her.
A Family's First Week Turns Into a Nightmare
Tara and Riad Abrahams moved into the four-bedroom apartment above Stockton in November 2025 with their three children, renting the unit for nearly $18,000 a month, per StreetEasy figures cited in the same report. The lawsuit claims Stockton called police on the family multiple times during that very first week. Riad Abrahams said his 10-year-old son asked why the woman on the 10th floor hated the family, and Tara Abrahams said Stockton's tirades seemed designed to be heard by the children.
The suit claims Stockton called police again when the family opened birthday presents at their dinner table, according to an email from Tara Abrahams cited in the filing — this after the Abrahams family had celebrated their eldest daughter's 16th birthday earlier in October. The lawsuit also claims Stockton repeatedly screamed profanities, threats and derogatory racial comments at the family, at one point allegedly calling them “you f—ing animals.” In all, the suit claims Stockton called police on the family at least 10 times.
Banging Described as Sounding Like a Lead Pipe
Among the most dramatic allegations in the suit: that Stockton banged on her ceiling — the Abrahams family's floor — with an object that sounded like a lead pipe, for hours at a time. A building worker reported that Stockton attributed the noise to her kitchen cabinet, but a building filing claims her noise complaints were routinely unsubstantiated by staff.
Court filings tie the Abrahams case to a pattern stretching back more than a decade. Mitch Jacaruso moved into an 11th-floor apartment in 2014 and reported that Stockton screamed at his 11- and 8-year-old children in the elevator in 2017; he vacated the building afterward, per the lawsuit. Mark Weiss, who moved into the apartment after Jacaruso, reported in 2019 that Stockton banged on the ceiling and frightened his children, and he moved out in 2024.
Years of Complaints From Multiple Families
Jennifer Gaydos Stephan lived in the apartment above Stockton with her then-husband and four children starting at least in 2013. She said Stockton regularly hit the ceiling with a broom and left hostile notes, and the family moved out after two years. A 2014 email from Scott Hartman, cited in the suit, reported that Stockton threatened to discipline the couple's children herself; Hartman also reported that Stockton cornered two of his children in the elevator and made threatening overtures.
The lawsuit claims Stockton has driven at least three families out of their apartments through alleged harassment, and contends her behavior toward the Abrahams family was intended to drive them from their home as well. A spokesperson for Fetner Properties said the company expects courtesy between residents and will not tolerate yelling or berating. Court records cited in the suit show Stockton received $24,000 last spring through the state's emergency rental assistance program. A four-bedroom unit in the building is currently listed for over $21,000 a month in rent.
Where Tenants Can Turn
Housing-harassment cases involving a Manhattan address like 85 East End Avenue are handled in New York County Housing Court, since such cases must be started in the county where the property sits, according to NY CourtHelp. Courts can also issue an order of protection directing someone not to injure, threaten or harass another person or their family, the same resource notes.
Tenants in rent-stabilized or rent-controlled units who believe they are facing harassment have other options too. The New York Attorney General’s office says such tenants can file a complaint with the state's Homes and Community Renewal agency by phone or online. That agency, in turn, says a tenant who believes they are a victim of harassment can file form RA-60H with its Office of Rent Administration, and that a civil penalty may follow a finding of harassment, according to New York State Homes and Community Renewal.
