Neighbors on Manor Rd. express the kindest concern for their evicted fellow resident Dennis Cibulka. “He’s a very nice man. I worry about him a lot,” said a woman who lives on the opposite side of Manor. Mr. Cibulka is living outdoors after his home was boarded up by the health department. He spends his nights, it is said, behind the piles of boxes stacked up on his front porch. The experience of watching someone who is of sound mind endure Mr. Cibulka’s self-imposed hardship is perplexing. “I honestly don’t know how he does it,” said another neighbor. “I believe he has a very good lawyer.” Mr. Cibulka inherited the modest semi-detached home at 313 Manor from his mother in 2004. He is said to have more than sufficient means to live other than he does. His occupation is the care of his many pet cats. He is, neighbors say, a man perhaps in his 50s who loves to store things. Such people are often reclusive.(Previous post).
Collyer brothers
The most famous hoarders were the Collyer Brothers, two New York City men who were finally found dead in their midtown brownstone home in 1947. It was determined that one of the brothers, Homer, had starved after his brother, Langley, had been fatally injured while bringing him food as he crawled through a tunnel of junk. The home was filled with booby-traps to catch intruders but in this case Langley apparently tripped a wire that sent a heavy suitcase as well as bundles of newspapers down onto him.
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| New York brownstone owned by the Collyer brothers |
