A 92-year-old woman with dementia and her nephew’s nanny died within feet of each other in her two-bedroom Upper West Side home, which neighbors worried had become a “horror show.”
Alice Osman spent her life traveling the world before dementia imprisoned her in her own imagination, leaving her to die alone in her co-op, with her frightened, suffering nephew Steven Osman’s body in the next room.
Both Osmans were discovered dead inside her ground-floor house at 370 Riverside Dr. in June, according to relatives, court documents, and officials.
Osman, 92, graduated from Teachers College in 1959 and began teaching English to non-native speakers at Columbia University’s American Language Program in 1969, according to the school and another nephew, Mark Osman.
“She was a world traveler,” Mark Osman told the Post. “I believe one of the reasons she never married was because she enjoyed traveling across the world. I’ve seen photographs of her riding a camel and visiting many continents. She like visiting places where people did not speak English.
The elder Osman “lucked out,” securing her two-bedroom, about 1,500-square-foot pad at 370 Riverside Dr. decades ago, utilizing it as a home base and occasionally visiting younger relatives, according to Mark Osman.
According to reports, similar residences are now selling for $1 million or more.
She frequently flew by herself to her Lake Worth, Fla., condo just south of West Palm Beach, he said.
Alice’s family had no idea she was struggling until she became disoriented in her familiar neighborhood and slipped a year behind on her monthly maintenance expenses, according to her nephew.
That’s when Mark’s brother Steven, 63, a former lawyer who was also battling with drug and alcohol addiction and was haunted by the death of his best friend — NYPD Officer John Perry, who died trying to save people during the 9/11 terror attacks — stepped in.
The couple lived together, but Steven’s unwanted habit of gathering and storing cans and bottles from the street inside the apartment generated issues with management, according to Mark and a doorman at the 16-story building.
Doorman Ermal Milori discovered the horrific find on June 28 after arriving for his afternoon shift and smelling a horrible odor, according to The Post.
After inspecting the lobby, he entered the Osmans’ home and discovered Alice dead, face up on a bed, and her nephew, whom Milori hadn’t seen in four days, dead in another room.
“He died first, in his bed asleep,” according to Mark Osman, “and then my aunt, she laid down and went to sleep and never woke up.”
According to the city Medical Examiner, the Osmans died of natural causes such as hypertension and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
However, nearly five months after the Osmans’ untimely demise, the flat remains shuttered.
According to the case, there is a “DO NOT ENTER” sign on the door, and management has petitioned the Manhattan Supreme Court to order the NYPD to allow them entrance to clean, remove garbage, and fumigate.
“Since the bodies were removed, Plaintiff has received multiple complaints from other residents about a strong foul smell emanating from the apartment,” they stated in court filings, adding that mice and roaches are thought to have set in.
The issue “is just an unfortunate set of circumstances,” according to attorney Peter Livingston, who represents 370 Riverside.
However, Alice Osman’s lawyer maintained that 370 Riverside was wrong to request entry to the flat and had excluded her family from the process.
“They should not have access to the apartment before we have access,” said attorney Yoram Nachimovsky, who has known Steven Osman for decades. “To leave us out of the case is totally inappropriate.”
The family only received the remains of their loved ones in the last two weeks and death certificates last month, he added, allowing them to seek Mark Osman’s appointment as executor of Alice and Steven’s estates in Surrogate Court.
“Alice was an intellectual, a very sweet lady, very old school, very dignified,” Nachimovsky said of the older Osman in her good years, adding that Steven “was taking care of her hand and foot.” He was at my office perhaps a few days before he died. “It was so unexpected.”
He denied charges that the apartment was untidy or causing issues, stating that he had hired professional cleaners approximately a month before Alice and Steven died and was willing to do so again.
“I think the fact that [370 Riverside] started a case to get into the apartment without us is an indication they have their own axe to grind,” Nachimovsky said, noting that the Osmans are current on their rent and maintenance payments. “You want to walk into her residence without informing her lawyer? There is something horribly wrong with that.
The NYPD cannot open the home without Surrogate’s Court or other approval, according to a statement.
“She was a nice lady,” one resident, who declined to be identified, said of Alice Osman.
“It’s probably a horror show inside,” added another resident.
“It’s a very difficult time for everyone,” another resident added.