nypost.com Open in urlscan Pro
192.0.66.32  Public Scan

Form analysis
0 forms found in the DOM

Text Content

Close the sidebar
 * News
   * Politics
 * Metro
 * Page Six
 * Sports
   * NFL
   * MLB
   * NBA
   * NHL
   * College Football
   * College Basketball
 * Post Sports+
 * Sports Betting
 * Business
   * Personal Finance
 * Opinion
 * Entertainment
   * TV
   * Movies
   * Music
   * Celebrities
   * Awards
   * Theater
 * Shopping
 * Lifestyle
   * Weird But True
   * Health
     * Fitness
     * Health Care
     * Medicine
     * Men’s Health
     * Women’s Health
     * Mental Health
     * Nutrition
   * Sex & Relationships
   * Viral Trends
   * Human Interest
   * Parenting
   * Fashion & Beauty
   * Food & Drink
   * Travel
 * Real Estate
 * Media
 * Tech
 * Astrology
 * Video
 * Photos
 * Visual Stories
 * Sub Menu 1
   * Today’s Paper
   * Covers
   * Columnists
   * Horoscopes
   * Crosswords & Games
   * Sports Odds
   * Podcasts
   * Careers
 * Sub menu 2
   * Email Newsletters
   * Official Store
   * Home Delivery
   * Tips

Close the sidebar
Menu
 * Facebook
 * Twitter
 * Flipboard
 * WhatsApp
 * Email
 * 

TRENDING NOW IN METRO

Skip to main content

CORRECTION OFFICER CLAIMS SELF-DEFENSE IN FATAL ROAD-RAGE CLASH...

COUPLE KEPT CHOPPED-UP BODY OF NYC DRUG DEALER IN FRIDGE FOR FOUR...

MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY COULD'VE AVOIDED SUDDEN SHUTDOWN OF...

Metro


WOMAN BRUTALLY STABBED 14 TIMES BY CAREER CRIMINAL SUES HOUSING AUTHORITY FOR
UNLOCKED ENTRANCE IN NYC COMPLEX

By Carl Campanile

Published Jan. 28, 2024, 3:55 p.m. ET

A woman who was brutally stabbed and nearly killed by an intruder in a New York
City Housing Authority complex in Brooklyn last year has filed a negligence suit
against the agency for allegedly failing to secure the entrance to the building
— further tarnishing NYCHA’s reputation as the nation’s largest slumlord.  

Advertisement

Sophia Rostom, 26, was visiting a friend in the Farragut Houses at 111 Bridge
Street when serial criminal Maurice Brister, who entered the unlocked building,
stabbed her 14 times in the head, heart, lungs, arms, leg and buttocks while she
was waiting for an elevator in the lobby on the morning of March 28, the lawsuit
says.

Brister stabbed at least one other woman that day and was charged with attempted
murder.

Rostom, a medical technician and mother of a young child, lost nearly half of
her blood and was clinging to life after the attack, having sustained puncture
wounds to vital organs.

Advertisement

She underwent emergency heart and lung surgeries and spent more than a week in
New York Presbyterian’s intensive care unit recovering from her injuries, the
suit said.

Rostom still suffers from severe physical and psychological trauma stemming from
the incident and is unable to work, her lawyers John Morgan and Moses Ahn of
Morgan & Morgan told The Post.

6
Sophia Rostom filed a negligence lawsuit against NYCHA after she was stabbed at
a building in Brooklyn’s Farragut Houses last year.

Advertisement

The lawsuit, filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court, cites audits conducted by the city
comptroller’s office in 2018 and 2022, which found nearly all front entrance
doors at the Farragut Houses were left open and “unsecured” due to broken or
faulty locks.


MORE ON: NYCHA


 * 15-YEAR-OLD GUNNED DOWN AT BROOKLYN NYCHA COMPLEX: NYPD


 * E-BIKE BATTERY SPARKS NYC APARTMENT BUILDING FIRE THAT KILLED ONE, INJURED
   SIX


 * NYC RECRUITING COACHES TO BOLSTER HEALTH OF PUBLIC HOUSING TENANTS


 * MOM STUCK MOPPING BLOODY MESS IN NYCHA BUILDING AFTER VICIOUS SLASHING

The complaint claims Brister entered the building through the unlocked,
unsecured, broken, and/or inoperable door.

Rostom’s suit claims NYCHA leadership knew about the findings and failed to
fix or replace the locks or doors.

Advertisement

Investigators working with Rostom’s legal team recently visited the same
building where she was viciously attacked and discovered that the entrance door
was still unlocked.

The lawyers provided The Post with a video of the unlocked door.

6
Rostom was stabbed 14 times by serial criminal Maurice Brister after he got into
the building through an unlocked door.

Advertisement

6
Audits conducted by the city comptroller’s office in 2018 and 2022 found that
nearly all front entrances at the Farragut Houses were found unlocked and
unsecured due to faulty locks. Comptroller's Office

“All landlords – from the owner of a single home residence to the nation’s
largest public housing authority – have a responsibility to ensure residents and
guests will be safe. What our client suffered is a terrifying example of what
can happen when landlords allegedly fail in that duty,” Rostom’s lawyers said in
a statement to The Post.

“Ms. Rostom’s injuries forever altered her young life and derailed her career.
Nearly a year after this tragic incident, she remains unable to return to work
and has yet to fully recover.”

Advertisement

The lawsuit — citing the comptroller’s reports — said NYCHA’s failure to secure
lobby entrances to its housing complex is a systemic problem.

6
Rostom underwent emergency heart and lung surgeries and spent a week in the ICU
after the brutal stabbing.

“This lawsuit is about more than getting justice for Ms. Rostom. NYCHA needs to
take immediate steps to improve safety, not only for the 3,000-plus residents of
the Farragut Houses, but also for all 360,000 residents of its properties and
its guests. Our lawsuit alleges this incident was preventable, and Morgan &
Morgan won’t rest until NYCHA is held accountable and improves its security for
its residents and guests,” Rostom’s attorneys said.

Advertisement

An audit released by then-Comptroller Scott Stringer in October 2018 found eight
of the 10 entrance doors of the Farragut Houses were open and discovered
similarly malfunctioning locks at numerous other NYCHA projects throughout the
city.

But in September 2022, current city Comptroller Brad Lander issued a follow-up
audit warning to NYCHA that found open, unsecured or broken doors and windows
near entrances was a “large, systemic, and apparently worsening” problem at a
number of buildings.

His audit found that 40% of the entrance door locks of the 262 NYCHA
developments visited were broken and 37% of the building entrance doors were
open.

Advertisement

6
Rostom’s lawsuit alleges that NYCHA failed to fix or replace the locks or doors
despite the audit. Comptroller's Office
6
The 2022 audit found that 40% of the entrance door locks of the 262 NYCHA
developments visited were broken. Comptroller's Office

The audit found door security at Farragut Houses was even worse in the follow-up
audit — with 90% of the locks broken and doors open.

Advertisement

Rostom’s suit says NYCHA management and employees failed to take “the necessary
and requisite steps to prevent this foreseeable occurrence” despite having had
“knowledge” of the security problems.

NYCHA and the office of Mayor Eric Adams — who appoints NYCHA leadership — had
no immediate comment.

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams’ office has repeatedly named NYCHA one of the
city’s worst landlords.


Ad



SHARE THIS:


Filed under brooklyn ,  crime ,  lawsuit ,  nycha ,  security ,  stabbings , 
1/28/24

TRENDING NOW

 1. Taylor Swift arrives at Chiefs-Ravens AFC Championship game to support
    Travis Kelce
 2. Russian man who flew to LA without passport or ticket tailgated unsuspecting
    passenger through security, boarded plane next day
 3. Jay Leno speaks out against efforts to remove Trump from ballot, says he's
    stopped doing political jokes
 4. Ex-Giants bust accuses Chiefs of lying about his injury after being ruled
    out of AFC title game
 5. Woman arrested for taking baby wearing only diaper to Walmart in freezing
    temps compares her plight to Jesus'
 6. Elderly mom leaving $2.8M inheritance to pets after she claims kids never
    visited her when she was sick

https://nypost.com/2024/01/28/metro/woman-brutally-stabbed-14-times-by-career-criminal-sues-housing-authority-for-unlocked-entrance-in-nyc-complex/?utm_source=url_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons
Copy the URL to share
 * Post Sports+
 * Email Newsletters
 * Mobile Apps
 * Contact Us
 * Tips

 * Facebook
 * Twitter
 * Instagram
 * LinkedIn
 * Email
 * YouTube

© 2024 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Terms of Use | Privacy

Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information/Opt-Out
Exit mobile version