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Is Houston's most infamous citizen moving out? Robert Durst buys a Harlem home
Robert DurstCourtesy photo
It looks like the residents of Rice Village's Robinhood condos may have one less scary character to worry about this Halloween.
Resident Robert Durst, the heir of a New York real estate fortune, was acquitted of murdering and dismembering his 71-year-old neighbor in Galveston in 2001 (he claimed it was self-defense) but suspicions remain about Durst's role in the mysterious disappearance of his first wife in 1982 and the violent murder of his long-time friend Susan Berman in 2000.
"If I disappear, go and check him out first," Isaiah Owens, who owns a funeral parlor near Durst's new digs, told the New York Post.
Those familiar with the Durst drama will also note that he jumped bail and disguised himself as a woman until being arrested in Pennsylvania for shoplifting a sandwich while he had $500 in his pocket. His exploit earned Durst his own ripped-from-the-headlines episode of Law & Order and a major Hollywood film about the disappearance of wife Kathleen starring Ryan Gosling.
Now Durst, who splits his time between California, Florida, Houston and New York, has purchased a townhouse on Lenox Ave. in Harlem, and the neighbors aren't happy.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Durst has purchased a 19th-century townhouse on Lenox Avenue at 121st Street for $1.75 million, but whether he plans to make it a home is uncertain.
It wasn't clear whether Mr. Durst plans to live in the 1888 house at 218 Lenox Ave. The 21-foot-wide house in the middle of the Mount Morris Park Historic District, has been divided into three apartments and a ground-floor beauty salon. During one visit to the house before his purchase, Mr. Durst talked about turning one of the apartments into a duplex for himself, according to a broker familiar with the matter. But he also was said to be considering the property for its investment value."
Unsurprisingly, his Harlem neighbors aren't happy about the new alleged murderer on the block.
"If I disappear, go and check him out first," Isaiah Owens, who owns a funeral parlor near Durst's new digs, told the New York Post.
Is Rice Village safer with Durst in Harlem? And would you rather have Durst or Casey Anthony as a neighbor?
