Disabled Woman Allegedly Forced to Slide Down Stairs
BY STEPHANIE BARISH wpix.com

4:43 p.m. EST, December 25, 2009
NEW YORK (WPIX)—
A Brooklyn woman launched a lawsuit against her landlord claiming her severely disabled daughter has been forced to slide down several flights of stairs on her back.

Carmen Flores, 66, filed a lawsuit in Brooklyn Federal Court charging that Dermot Co., which own the building on 13 St. in Park Slope, refused to provide her family with suitable living arrangements on the first-floor.

Carmen claims her daughter, Lordes Flores, who suffers from a form of muscular dystrophy, spends about 30 minutes sliding down stairs to reach the wheelchair stored under the stairwell alcove.

Carmen claims she applied to live in a room on the ground floor when there was a vacancy last February. However, court papers allege a Dermot representatives told them "transfers" are not allowed.

"They want us to move out," Carmen Flores told the New York Daily News. "It's not fair. I just want a better life because it's very hard for me and Lordes here."

Brent Meltzer, the Flores' attorney, claims Dermot Co. may not be willing to help the family since they only pay $700 for their rent-controlled apartment. He claims if they were to move, new tenants would pay a significantly higher amount for rent.

So far, officials from Dermot Co. have not commented on the case.