Has your landlord left your freezing this winter? If you really want to get their attention you could always try 65-year-old Lube Paskoski's alleged tactic and chop up your furniture and start a fire. more ›

A level three sex offender who served 14 years for sexually abusing girls ages five to seven no longer holds the keys to 50 Manhattan apartments. Shortly after his release from prison in 2001 William Barnason was hired as the super for several Upper West Side buildings, where female tenants complained he tried to coerce them into sex-for-rent arrangements, but now he’s gotten the boot. “Mr. Barnason is no longer employed as the superintendent and will be moving out of the building he lives in the near future," said a lawyer for the child rapists’ employer. more ›

The convicted child rapist and Upper West Side building superintendent accused of soliciting sex from female tenants no longer has access to keys to dozens of apartments. According to the Post, landlord Stanley Katz is "evaluating what he's going to do" about Level 3 sex offender Williams Barnason, who is the super at three buildings on West 73rd and West 75th streets. For now, the super "has no access to the keys." Barnason served 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to raping, sodomizing and sexually abusing girls as young as five years old. Some tenants allege that Barnason offered to pay their rent and deposits if they would have sex with him. A Manhattan lawmaker has proposed legislation that would bar high-risk sex offenders from working as supers. more ›

Following allegations that a convicted child rapist has used his job as an Upper West Side building superintendent to pressure tenants into having sex with him, a state assemblyman has proposed legislation that would keep high-risk sex offenders from getting jobs as supers. "To have someone who has done such monstrous things to have the key to your apartment—it would strike fear in me," said Assemblyman Micah Kellner (D-Upper East Side). more ›

An Upper West Side building superintendent classified as a high-risk sex offender after pleading guilty to raping and sodomizing children has been accused of offering to help female tenants pay their rent in exchange for sex. Residents of three buildings maintained by William Barnason say they are horrified that the 57-year-old—who served more than 14 years in prison for attacks against kids as young as five years old—has access to the their apartments. And they're also scared by the high-risk sex offender's purportedly creepy behavior. more ›

A resident of a "luxurious small building" facing Central Park got some lip over a holiday tip, and turned to the UrbanBaby message board for advice: "So, I gave my doormen/ porters and handyman 60 dollars bonus each (times 11) and to the super, 100 dollars. One of the doormen complained about his bonus, saying, 'I love the card, not so much the contents.' I couldn't believe it. I wonder how much everyone else gave this year." And so the agonizing debate over whom to tip and how much rages on! One proposed solution for this particular contretemps? Re-tipping and apologizing to the doorman. more ›

If it's November, it's time to start dreading the Holiday tipping ritual. How much do you give the super or the doorman or—no joke—the sanitation worker? Well, if you're the board of directors at a tony co-op, the solution is simple: Nothing. A thread on the Urban Baby message board has sparked a vigorous debate about noblesse oblige during a recession, beginning thus:

SANTA CLAUS CAME EARLY!!! Just got a notice from our co-op board: "In response to past complaints about favoritism, and in light of the current recession that has dealt a significant blow to many of our shareholders, the board of directors of (XYZ Building) has implemented a strict "no tipping" policy for the building staff." THANK YOU SANTA!!!

A Bay Ridge super is looking for a new job and place to live after new building owners ousted him following some bad press. The Daily News deemed Richard Martin "the crankiest super in New York" earlier this year after he would leave his building's garbage cans on the roof to teach tenants a lesson about improper sorting. He was also known for the angry signs he would leave up calling residents of the building "morons" and "retarded." (When not making colorful signs, Martin also decorated his door with a poster of infamous DA, now TV's "Judge" Jeanine Pirro.) Some residents stick up for Martin despite his antics as a good super and a nice guy who people like to rile up. Martin blames his firing on the News for painting him in such a bad light that the new owners (of Russian descent) let him go. "Fourteen years, 9-1/2 months. The new landlord figured I was too much trouble. You know, Russian people don't mess around," he told the paper. more ›

An Upper East Side super does more than just keep things running smoothly at the Park Ave. building where he works, he's a crimefighter. Veteran building superintendent Jorge Ortiz has worked as a superintendent for 21 years, since he was 18 years old. Sharp eyes and experience have resulted in Ortiz apprehending a number of criminals over the year. That and a bit of courage. more ›