Landlord Rented A Shared Space As A One Bedroom To Someone Else Nyc

I posted here about a week ago about a roommate refusing to unlock a connecting corridor door that leads to a shared space.

It turns out that the corridor door is considered the front door to his one bedroom apartment that he signed a lease for a month before I even moved in. The state is paying for it through a special program so legally it could never be considered a “shared space”.

I wouldn’t have found this out unless the guy I considered as the “roommate” hadn’t opened up and shared this with me. The landlord never thought to mention that it was his one bedroom apartment despite us having a 48 minute conversation where I repeatedly asked why was it such a big deal that the roommate felt the need to lock the door for his “safety” as she put it as it is giving preferential treatment to one party over another.

Once I found out what she had done, I researched it and found it is definitely not legal to rent someone a place as a one bedroom and then coerce them (she offered 300 a month for me to use his bathroom and kitchen) into sharing the space with another. The next step I took was filing a complaint.

The “roommate” was advised by his caseworkers and others once they heard about the situation to cease allowing me to access his apartment. He politely but firmly stood in front of yesterday and asked me to please exit the apartment and give him the keys. The landlord said that I should not have given him keys and to continue coming into his apartment no matter what, even if he stands in front of me and ask me to leave. She is basically encouraging me to continue the conflict instead of resolving the issue and is claiming that she has 30 days to resolve this but in the meantime I have to go into someone’s apartment who asked me not to be there and it is extremely uncomfortable. I do not want this to escalate.

The landlord has been playing victim from day one, when I found out about her renting him a one bedroom and messaged asking about it she claimed she was headed to the hospital with high blood pressure, she also has accused me of being in cahoots with the guy I thought was a “roommate” as per her statement, we have been heard laughing and cackling and giggling. She claims she was just trying to help and that now I’m being difficult because she gave me another key to his apartment and expects me to willingly use it even though he told me not to go in his apartment.

I tried to reach a tenant hotline yesterday but I was on hold for the longest before the line disconnected so I never got to escalate a complaint, I also found a lawyer but it was his paralegal who took the call and they said they would get back to me, I will be looking for another lawyer in the meantime because I am not too sure about them and need my case taken seriously. In the meantime is there anything else I can do? I have pictures of me urinating and defecating in a bucket as proof because I do not want to confront the man about his apartment and force my way in. The landlord claims I won’t be breaking the law because he at first agreed but now he has revoked access and I know he could call the police on me if he chooses?

I just am really scared, confused and am so tired of the scams in NYC. I really love the city but the housing situations I’ve been in since I got here are a nightmare. Any suggestions help!! I’ll be including pictures in a link below so you can see some of the conversation between the landlord and me as well as between all the “roommate”, landlord, and me.