Mark Fishman, Logan Square's biggest landlord, is trying to evict a tenant over her Palestinian flag.
Mark Fishman is my Logan Square neighborhood’s biggest landlord.
Last winter Fishman made the papers when tenants in one of his buildings on my block withheld their rent when Fishman wouldn’t provide heat for two weeks.
No heat in a Chicago winter is a big deal.
Fishman showed up at a community meeting (photo above) a few years ago to oppose construction of 100 units of affordable housing that we were trying to get built on a rarely used city parking lot by the CTA Blue Line station.
In spite of Fishman’s opposition, the Lucy Parsons Apartments is now completed and full with a waiting list.
Affordable housing comes at a premium in Logan Square. We could use a whole lot more.
Fishman is back in the news. He wants to evict a Palestinian tenant for flying a Palestinian flag from her apartment in a Fishman owned building on heavily traveled Milwaukee Avenue.
Fishman claims his lease forbids tenants from hanging anything from their windows.
The tenant, Manal Farhan, is Palestinian with family members in Gaza.
She says she has no intention of taking her flag down.
Neighboring businesses like Boulevard Bikes on that stretch of Milwaukee Avenue, as well as other Logan Square residents, are posting Palestinian flags in their windows in solidarity with Farhan.