Fly the flag, get evicted?

Patriotic family faces boot for displaying Old Glory

A New York family of five faces eviction from its Manhattan apartment for daring to fly an American flag.

Michael and Deborah Privitello, who celebrated their love for the U.S. by getting married on Independence Day, received a letter signed by landlord Francis Greenburger stating the American flag breached their lease, and they would be evicted should it remain in place.

The letter claimed erecting the flag amounted to attaching a prohibited "projection."

"It's un-American," Deborah told the New York Post. "How can this man who says he is an American do something like this at this time when we have our troops at war?"

When contacted by the paper, Greenburger said he was unaware of details of the case, despite his name on the letter.

"I have 100 people who work for me who manage about 180 buildings. My name gets signed for legal reasons," he said.

Robert Kantor, president of Time Equities in charge of the property, said the landlord was involved in a long-running dispute with the Privitellos.

"We feel we have no choice but to fulfill every single provision of the lease," Kantor told the Post.