Bosom buddies who stuck together through divorce, death and business deals finally had their friendship ruined by the powerful force of Manhattan real estate.
Handbag designer Jane August says she’s done everything for her longtime pal Michelle J. Schwartz — holding her hand through two failing marriages and the death of her children’s father.
A grateful Schwartz offered in 1999 to pay for a Manhattan apartment August could use “for the rest of her life,” August claims.
The designer, whose handbags retail for hundreds of dollars, picked a pad on East 78th Street and has lived there ever since, paying the common charges and leading a renovation of the building’s lobby that helped raise the value of the property, she claims.
But the agreement was never put in writing.
For more than a year, Schwartz has been trying to give August the boot, the designer declares in a Manhattan Supreme Court suit.
While August admits she didn’t pay Schwartz any rent, she says she consistently helped her longtime friend out in other ways — managing another Manhattan apartment Schwartz owned and overseeing the purchase and maintenance of a house, the lawsuit says.
August wants a court order to keep Schwartz from evicting her. Schwartz declined to comment.