The former head of the International Monetary Fund is hoping to move into a $14 000 a month apartment in the luxurious Bristol Plaza building in the upper east side of Manhattan after a judge bailed him on Thursday as he fights charges of attempted rape of a hotel chambermaid.
Strauss-Kahn’s $1-million bail stipulates that he must be kept under house arrest, wear an electronic tag to monitor his movements and hire a $200 000-a-month gun-toting security team authorised to use force if he should attempt to flee.
“I expect you will be here when we need you,” Judge Michael Obus said on granting bail. “If there is the slightest problem, we can withdraw conditions.”
Strauss-Kahn’s wife, Anne Sinclair, a former journalist, had hired the apartment. But news of this abode attracted a media scrum outside the building and objections from residents. Police had to put up barricades to hold back the TV crews and cameramen.
Speaking anonymously, one resident said the media commotion outside was the first news he had heard of Strauss-Kahn’s arrival. “It’s outrageous. You think someone would have told us. I am going to object to this,” he said.
It was unclear on Friday whether Strauss-Kahn would be allowed to move in. He will be kept in the Rikers Island prison facility until he finds a suitable residence. He is being housed in solitary confinement and is under suicide watch.
‘Better than a hotel’
The leasing agent for the apartment told the New York Post that no one under the name Sinclair or Strauss-Kahn had rented accommodation in the building, which bills itself as “better than a hotel”. The Bristol is located in one of the most exclusive neighbourhoods in New York. It is just a few blocks from designer department stores such as Barneys.
Strauss-Kahn (62) has been in jail since he was seized on an Air France plane at John F Kennedy airport last Sunday just moments before takeoff.
Other locals and workers near the Bristol were more circumspect about the prospect of a new neighbour.
Oxanna Fitzsimmons, a caretaker at the building, said she would have no problem cleaning Strauss-Kahn’s room.
“I am not afraid. Is he crazy? He’s not crazy, he’s a normal person,” she said, adding that she did not believe he was guilty. “A man like that with a housekeeper? It’s unbelievable.”
New York University student Alex Salamunouvich said: “I’m kind of indifferent to it. We have film crews here all the time, it’s not such a big deal. There are way more scary things to be concerned about in this city than that guy.” She said the work on the second avenue subway was far more disruptive.
The Bristol is in the same street and just a few blocks east of the apartment where convicted financier Bernard Madoff was held under house arrest.
“There must be something about this street,” said Ron Anta, who has lived in the neighbourhood for 23 years. “This is the same-sized crowd [of media] that Madoff got but I don’t think they’ll stay here for as long. I don’t think people around here really notice this kind of stuff. We are used to it. This is New York.”
Strauss-Kahn will formally answer charges on June 6. The 32-year-old hotel maid who has accused the former IMF chief of attempted rape is in hiding. She appeared before a grand jury this week and told police she entered his hotel room to clean it, thinking it was empty. He then allegedly jumped from a bathroom naked and attacked her. He denies all charges. – guardian.co.uk