Teh One Who Knocks
08-03-2011, 02:19 PM
By Alexi Friedman/The Star-Ledger
http://i.imgur.com/mUWvq.jpg
Richard Kreimer calls himself NJ Transit’s most valuable commuter. He has also called himself a plaintiff in four lawsuits filed against the agency, most recently in June.
"Nobody travels the trains more than me, but I’m not going to tolerate being harassed," the 62-year-old Kreimer said last week from NJ Transit’s Secaucus Junction station, where he was sitting on a bench eating lunch.
Kreimer, who is homeless, has made a name for himself over the years by suing NJ Transit, the Morristown Library, CVS pharmacy, a coffeehouse, a Chinese restaurant and various municipalities and mayors, all alleging First Amendment and civil rights violations. In most instances, he has been barred from or thrown out of a location.
Kreimer believes he is a target because he is homeless.
The suits — there have been close to 20 — have won the Morristown native equal parts scorn and support, a good bit of media coverage and hundreds of thousands of dollars in settlements.
"I’m probably the most famous person in New Jersey," he boasted in between forkfuls of rice and sips from a soda from the train station, where he spends much of his time. Kreimer has attracted attention since the Morristown Library case, when he won an $80,000 settlement in 1991 after contending the library unlawfully barred him from the premises because of his hygiene and odd behavior. He won a separate, $150,000 settlement against the town claiming police harassment.
It is Kreimer’s personality as much as his plight that has helped make him "a cause-celeb," in his words. He ran for mayor of Morristown and collected petitions for a gubernatorial candidacy. He often refers to himself by name, can cite U.S. Supreme Court cases from memory, tapes his conversations — "I’ve recorded everything you said," he told a reporter — and isn’t afraid to label his fellow homeless "crybabies."
Kreimer said he was forced into the streets after losing his Morristown home in the 1980s and accumulating debt. About his finances, Kreimer said only that he has enough to afford the copious amounts of medication for his diabetes and other ailments.
Kreimer’s attorney, George Cotz, calls him "very sane and rational, certainly very eccentric. He uses the courts to assert and protect his rights," Cotz said.
Kreimer’s latest lawsuit, filed in Superior Court in Newark, stems from four alleged run-ins with NJ Transit police and personnel. Among those incidents, according to the lawsuit, was an encounter on Halloween night 2007 at Newark Penn Station, when a transit police officer cited the city’s anti-loitering law as reason for ordering Kreimer out. He also allegedly searched Kreimer and his bag, according to the lawsuit.
The state Supreme Court long ago ruled anti-loitering laws unenforceable, and Kreimer said the officer’s search violated his constitutional right to protection against unreasonable search and seizure. In another encounter described in the suit, an NJ Transit conductor prevented him from boarding a train, violating Kreimer’s constitutional right to travel without restriction, he argues.
The suit contends Kreimer was targeted "from prior civil actions he has brought against New Jersey Transit and certain officers; and because he was and is homeless."
Both NJ Transit and Newark — which has since repealed its anti-loitering ordinance — are named as defendants. Officials for both declined to comment.
The lawsuit closely follows the one Kreimer filed in federal court, which was dismissed in March.
Bruce S. Rosen, an attorney who represented Kreimer in the Morristown Library case, said his former client “often gets singled out for the way he looks or smells.” But, added Rosen, “he’s making a life out of these lawsuits. It’s become kind of like a sting operation, where he’s waiting for someone to violate his rights...This is a way for him to make money.”
Kreimer, meanwhile, spends most of his time shuttling between New York and Newark Penn stations, and Secaucus Junction, the $450 million structure opened in 2003 that he calls "bourgeois" and a "crown jewel." The rail stations, he said, provide a level of security that homeless people can’t get in shelters or on the streets.
Kreimer said money has never been a motivating factor in his legal odyssey. "It’s about me standing up for myself. I do it because it’s the right thing to do." He does acknowledge "the system allows for compensation and I should be entitled to it just like everyone else."
Approaching retirement age, Kreimer said he looks forward to the day he can "close my law practice. Unfortunately, I have a lot of work out there. Business is booming."
http://i.imgur.com/mUWvq.jpg
Richard Kreimer calls himself NJ Transit’s most valuable commuter. He has also called himself a plaintiff in four lawsuits filed against the agency, most recently in June.
"Nobody travels the trains more than me, but I’m not going to tolerate being harassed," the 62-year-old Kreimer said last week from NJ Transit’s Secaucus Junction station, where he was sitting on a bench eating lunch.
Kreimer, who is homeless, has made a name for himself over the years by suing NJ Transit, the Morristown Library, CVS pharmacy, a coffeehouse, a Chinese restaurant and various municipalities and mayors, all alleging First Amendment and civil rights violations. In most instances, he has been barred from or thrown out of a location.
Kreimer believes he is a target because he is homeless.
The suits — there have been close to 20 — have won the Morristown native equal parts scorn and support, a good bit of media coverage and hundreds of thousands of dollars in settlements.
"I’m probably the most famous person in New Jersey," he boasted in between forkfuls of rice and sips from a soda from the train station, where he spends much of his time. Kreimer has attracted attention since the Morristown Library case, when he won an $80,000 settlement in 1991 after contending the library unlawfully barred him from the premises because of his hygiene and odd behavior. He won a separate, $150,000 settlement against the town claiming police harassment.
It is Kreimer’s personality as much as his plight that has helped make him "a cause-celeb," in his words. He ran for mayor of Morristown and collected petitions for a gubernatorial candidacy. He often refers to himself by name, can cite U.S. Supreme Court cases from memory, tapes his conversations — "I’ve recorded everything you said," he told a reporter — and isn’t afraid to label his fellow homeless "crybabies."
Kreimer said he was forced into the streets after losing his Morristown home in the 1980s and accumulating debt. About his finances, Kreimer said only that he has enough to afford the copious amounts of medication for his diabetes and other ailments.
Kreimer’s attorney, George Cotz, calls him "very sane and rational, certainly very eccentric. He uses the courts to assert and protect his rights," Cotz said.
Kreimer’s latest lawsuit, filed in Superior Court in Newark, stems from four alleged run-ins with NJ Transit police and personnel. Among those incidents, according to the lawsuit, was an encounter on Halloween night 2007 at Newark Penn Station, when a transit police officer cited the city’s anti-loitering law as reason for ordering Kreimer out. He also allegedly searched Kreimer and his bag, according to the lawsuit.
The state Supreme Court long ago ruled anti-loitering laws unenforceable, and Kreimer said the officer’s search violated his constitutional right to protection against unreasonable search and seizure. In another encounter described in the suit, an NJ Transit conductor prevented him from boarding a train, violating Kreimer’s constitutional right to travel without restriction, he argues.
The suit contends Kreimer was targeted "from prior civil actions he has brought against New Jersey Transit and certain officers; and because he was and is homeless."
Both NJ Transit and Newark — which has since repealed its anti-loitering ordinance — are named as defendants. Officials for both declined to comment.
The lawsuit closely follows the one Kreimer filed in federal court, which was dismissed in March.
Bruce S. Rosen, an attorney who represented Kreimer in the Morristown Library case, said his former client “often gets singled out for the way he looks or smells.” But, added Rosen, “he’s making a life out of these lawsuits. It’s become kind of like a sting operation, where he’s waiting for someone to violate his rights...This is a way for him to make money.”
Kreimer, meanwhile, spends most of his time shuttling between New York and Newark Penn stations, and Secaucus Junction, the $450 million structure opened in 2003 that he calls "bourgeois" and a "crown jewel." The rail stations, he said, provide a level of security that homeless people can’t get in shelters or on the streets.
Kreimer said money has never been a motivating factor in his legal odyssey. "It’s about me standing up for myself. I do it because it’s the right thing to do." He does acknowledge "the system allows for compensation and I should be entitled to it just like everyone else."
Approaching retirement age, Kreimer said he looks forward to the day he can "close my law practice. Unfortunately, I have a lot of work out there. Business is booming."