ODOR, BUT NOT WISER
Library boot ‘stinks’
It’s the pits! An Upper West Sider with heinous body odor claims the New York Public Library has unfairly washed its hands of him — booting him from one of the branches because of his olfactory offensiveness.
The situation smells of discrimination, claims 80-year-old George Stillman, who has filed a $5.5 million lawsuit against the library in Manhattan Supreme Court. The loyal library user says he has gone to the St. Agnes branch on Amsterdam Avenue for 20 years without inccident and was humiliated more than three yearyears ago by a manager’s request that he leave. He insists the problem stemmed from the library’s restrooms, not him.
Stillman claims in court papers that he “found the branch manager to be giving off an odor but never objected, understanding that such a challenge to the senses was just a fact of life in the city.”
In fact, Stillman thinks the library was just being snooty, since New York City was re cently declared the “smelliest city in the country,” according to his court papers.
The longtime Manhattan resident and dedicated longdistance runner says the lawsuit goes beyond B.O.
“It’s not about the amount of money; it’s about standing up for your rights,” he declared to The Post during a recent interview in his small West 83rd Street apartment. Stillman, who is representing himself in the case, denies anyone has ever told him he stinks.
“The only time I had an odor was when I was doing longdistance running and I was sweating,” Stillman declared. “I’ve got no body odor.” When a reporter visited Stillman, she also noticed a strong odor. The Korean War veteran blamed his apartment and opened his door and a hallway window.
Stillman prompted numerous complaints, a library spokeswoman said.
“The library manager asked him to leave the library, citing our rules and regulations,” spokeswoman Angela Montefinise said. “Mr. Stillman was not barred from the library and has returned several times since without incident.”