‘I’m paying Pole tax!’ Russian-bias claims

[Ognir]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/paying_pole_tax_3GjO5F9LVpeZ4MGj2eaHNK?utm_source=SFnewyorkpost&utm_medium=SFnewyorkpost

A Russian beauty locked in a legal battle with her posh Manhattan condo board claims she is being targeted because of "historic antagonism between Russians and Poles," according to new court documents.

The Polish-Soviet war — which ended in 1921 — is apparently still on for unemployed investment analyst Sophie Grishanova, who claims in court papers her "building has a large Polish presence . . . as well as much of the building staff."

"While it is hard to explain how these people treat me, I believe it suffices to say that they, in a subtle way, make it clear that I am not wanted," she said in Manhattan Supreme Court papers.

Grishanova, 31, called out Kevin Osowiecki, vice president of the 80 John St. condo board, as being Polish, and accused him of being a racist, "malicious person" with a "vulgar mouth," in a February affidavit.

Osowiecki, 43, a retired Wall Street floor trader and married father, shot down his neighbor's accusation as "a bald-faced lie," according to court papers.

"I am neither a racist nor an anti-Semite," countered Osowiecki, a fourth-generation Polish American.

He confirmed that the majority of the Financial District building's staff is Polish.

But a condo staffer told The Post he's never heard of a John Street beef between Russians and Poles.

"If I was caught doing something illegal, I would come up with something to say, too," he scoffed.

The board sued Grishanova last year for allegedly treating her Art Deco-style pad in the South Star building like a hotel by illegally renting it out to 48 guests in a year.

Grishanova countersued the building and its lawyer in court in Brooklyn — where she's living with her fiancé — last week for defamation and harassment.

"Her suit is absolutely baseless and meant to deter the board and me from prosecuting the case," attorney Steven Sladkus said. "We will not stop until justice is served."

Grishanova's attorney, Peter Mammis, declined to comment. But in an e-mail he wrote, "If you are not familiar with Russian-Polish antagonism, you can read about in online," and provided a link to a 2005 quote from an advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin: "Poles talk about Russians the way anti-Semites talk about Jews."