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UES Man Says Management Threw Away Everything In His Apartment By Mistake

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An Upper East Side man has filed a lawsuit, claiming that his landlords cleared out all of his personal belongings from his apartment and threw them away – when they were supposed to be cleaning out a different unit.

As CBS 2's Tracee Carrasco reported Tuesday night, Nilay Shroff filed the lawsuit this week in Manhattan Supreme Court. He said he lost it all, and was left with just the clothes on his back.

He claimed his apartment unit 2D at 409 E. 74th St., was cleared out on Oct. 9 of last year. The crews were supposed to be clearing out unit 2B, from which someone had just moved out, Shroff said.

"I saw my dresser here was gone, my dining room table here was gone -- turn around to look into my living room and everything is gone," he said.

Only a couple of items remained after the apartment was cleared out, Shroff told 1010 WINS.

"My TV and my PS3 were the only things that were in my apartment. My bed, my couch, dining room table, all my clothes, all my food – everything was gone," he told 1010 WINS.

Even items that seemingly no one would touch were cleared away, Shroff said.

"Even with food in the fridge, dirty dishes in the sink, you know, a wet towel in the bathroom because I had shower that morning – they had no idea that someone had not lived there," he said.

Shroff said he never imagined his apartment would be emptied out by mistake.

"So I live in apartment 2D," he said. "There's another unit in my building 2B, and the tenant in 2B had moved out and left some furniture behind, the management company, Mauntner-Glick, had hired contractors to clear out that apartment," he said.

Shroff has slowly had to replace his possessions, because they were disposed of in a way they could not be retrieved.

"They moved everything out of the wrong apartment and took it to the dump," he told 1010 WINS. "And the next day, the dump was closed and probably, everything was gone and irretrievable, so I literally was there with the clothes on my back."

His passport and credit cards were also hauled away, he said.

"Even the basic necessities like underwear and toiletries, I had to replace the next day," Shroff told CBS 2.

And worst of all, the cleaning crews tossed out items that can never be replaced.

"I had a picture with my mom, who passed away when I was 13, that was taken," he said.

Shroff said building managers have yet to take responsibility, so he has filed suit.

"Let a judge figure it out," he said.

The suit seeks unspecified damages from Goldie Holding Co., which owns the building; management firm Mautner-Glick; and an unspecified cleaning company, according to published reports.

CBS 2 contacted the management company Mautner-Glick but has yet to receive a response.

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