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Rare books collector, Irving Leif of Jersey City, faces eviction

Ron Zeitlinger/The Jersey Journal By Ron Zeitlinger/The Jersey Journal The Jersey Journal
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on January 17, 2010 at 1:50 PM, updated January 18, 2010 at 8:01 AM
Irving Leif.JPGIrving Leif, 62, of Jersey City, is a rare books collector who is now facing eviction from his home.
In terms of rare books, Irving Leif says he's a millionaire. In terms of real dollars, the soon-to-be-evicted Jersey City man is more like a 14-dollar-aire.

"I have $14 to my name. That's it," said Leif, who is scheduled to be evicted from his 1,892-a-month apartment in Downtown Jersey City on Wednesday. "I don't even have a phone."
What Leif has is what he calls a million-dollar collection of more than 3,000 rare books, manuscripts and letters.

Among the rare items are "two of three known copies of first-edition Horatio Alger books in original 1890s dust jackets, signed copies of some of Jack Kerouac's books, the most complete set of the Mother Earth pamphlets published by Emma Goldman and 338 unpublished literary letters written by the renowned American poet Larry Eigner," Leif said.

What he needs is a place to put them when he's forced out. He fears that his landlord will toss out collection that took 40 years to amass.

Rare Books.JPGLeif's collection of first edition G.A. Henty historical fiction for boys.

"I don't care if I live in the street, as long as that collection is saved," said the 62-year-old, who lost his job as chief information officer for the New York Department of Banking in 2007 when Elliot Spitzer took over as governor.

Leif said he had been surviving on a family trust fund, but his family lost "$175,000 to $250,000" in the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme scandal. He owes $14,000 in back rent, and agrees that he should be tossed.

"I have no issue with being evicted," Leif said. "It's their right to kick me out. I owe them a lot of money. I don't care about the furniture, I don't care about any of it," he said.

"I only care about the books and the collection. Packed up, it's about 100 boxes. I don't have the money to store it. I don't have anyone who has the room to take it."

Ed Cortese, senior vice president of the LeFrak Organization, which owns the John Adams building, 35 River Dr. South, where Leif lives, said in these cases "a landlord contacts a warehouse storage company and stores the content of an apartment. It's up to the tenant to pay those fees. A person's belongings would not just get thrown out."

Cortese wouldn't speculate on what would happen after that.

By law, a landlord can dispose of a tenant's property only if the landlord believes that the tenant is not coming back and has abandoned the items. In addition, the landlord must give the tenant written notice that he intends to dispose of the property. The notice must give the tenant 30 days after delivery of the landlord's written notice, or 33 days after the notice is mailed, whichever comes first, to claim the property.

"It sounds like a historical collection," said Angel Webster of Bauman Rare Books in Manhattan. "He and the management company should work out something that it is not thrown away."

Leif does not want to sell his collection, but grudgingly admits he may have to sell at least a part of it.

"Knowing my financial situation, people who have made offers that are very low, too low," Leif said. "I don't want to sell to someone who will break it up and sell it. I want it to stay together. It's not that easy to sell rare books. It could take months."

That's time that Leif doesn't have.
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