Cantor fitzgerald 9/11 paul and stephanie pion, an episode of Hoarders
'I need to find a place,' a tearful Hamptons'squatter' says.
According to a report Friday, the wife of a Cantor Fitzgerald executive tearfully denied allegations that her family was abusing pandemic-related protections to avoid eviction from a $5 million Hamptons mansion.
“I'm not squatting; I'm just trying to keep a roof over my children's heads,” Stephanie Pion, 39, told the Daily Mail in her Water Mill driveway.
The Post reported Tuesday that Pion and her husband Paul Pion were being sued for refusing to vacate the premises after their $10,000-per-month lease expired on May 31, despite the fact that they allegedly have a Manhattan apartment.
Additionally, a source familiar with the matter compared the situation inside to "an episode of 'Hoarders'" — the reality television show about people who obsessively accumulate possessions — and court documents describe an appraiser as saying that "the house was a mess, and the occupant was insane."
“There is no truth to what they say,” Stephanie told the Mail.
“I am not in possession of a city apartment. “I am not a billionaire, or whatever they portray me as,” she stated.
“The house is immaculately clean. However, I am a normal person.”
The Mail obtained undated photos of the interior of the "Bauhaus-inspired" home, which show it neat and clean but with different furniture and decorations than those shown in a current listing on the Corcoran website.
The interior is cluttered, with mounds of clothing piled on furniture and strewn across the floor, and a hallway partially blocked by a rolling clothes rack, according to a video obtained by The Post.
According to a source who was inside the home, "the place was filthy. I couldn't even walk through the garage because it was clogged with garbage. There were heaps of clothing strewn about the room and on the floor.”
“This was a $5 million mansion — this was no small Cape Cod. It was quite strange,” the source added.
Stephanie Pion told the Mail that she and Paul, Cantor's "ultra-wealthy" senior managing partner and chief administrative officer, considered purchasing the property from owner Damian Krause but the deal fell through.
“He desired to conduct an exchange, and as a nice person, I said, 'OK, no problem.' And then he didn't invest a dime," she claimed.
Stephanie continued, "All I'm requesting is a little more time." Because I require a location.”
The state legislature extended a moratorium on evictions of tenants who claim financial or medical hardship as a result of the COVID-19 crisis until Aug. 31.
Krause Estates LLC sued the Pions in Suffolk Supreme Court, seeking an order for their "immediate removal" on the grounds that they do not qualify for the protection.
Additionally, it seeks unspecified damages for their alleged "objectionable course of conduct," which includes "misuse and overuse of household systems and a failure to perform routine maintenance."
According to the lawsuit, a deal to sell the house for $4.97 million was supposed to close on Tuesday.
“This is not my fight,” the prospective buyer, commercial real estate banker Aaron Appel, told the Mail.
“I am bound by a contract with the owner,” he explained.
“The owner is responsible for delivering vacant possession of the property. That is a matter for them to resolve.”
Krause told The Post that the Pion's exploited her.
“Everything she said about Stephanie Pion is a lie,” she stated. “I offered them the opportunity to purchase the house. I replaced everything in there whenever she complained, including the oven... I have a terrible sense of victimization.”