964 Park: Return the Deed to the Robinson-Torain Family NOW. Indict the Deed Thieves!
The Issue
NO EVICTION AT 964 PARK!
Stop the deed theft — return the stolen deed to the Robinson-Torain family now.
It's essential that District Attorney Eric Gonzalez do what the family has been righteously demanding the DA do since the deed theft occurred in 2015: indict the deed thieves and return the deed to the family NOW.
Two years after the deed thieves' last attempt at an eviction, and more than a decade into the family's fight, there is still no justice — and once again, the Robinson-Torain family is faced with the threat of illegal eviction by a ring of white-collar criminals who stole the deed to their home. But we shall not be moved!
This Thursday, August 13, 2026, lawyers for deed thieves will appear before Judge Bernard Graham in Brooklyn Surrogates Court and seek permission to evict the Robinson-Torain family from their own home at 964 Park Place in Crown Heights, Brooklyn — where the family has lived since 1951. We will never allow that illegal eviction to occur — instead, we demand justice once and for all: return the stolen deed to the Robinson-Torain family now.
WE DEMAND:
° BROOKLYN DISTRICT ATTORNEY ERIC GONZALEZ: INDICT THE DEED THIEVES
RETURN THE DEED TODAY
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez must immediately indict the deed thieves of 964 Park, and finally charge them with the crimes of forgery and deed theft.
DA Gonzalez announced a criminal investigation into the deed theft two years ago, and still nothing has been done. It is now time for DA Gonzalez to indict and convict the deed thieves.
DA Gonzalez must convene a public press conference before Thursday, August 13, 2026 to announce indictments and call on all courts, in writing, to stay any eviction proceedings, and inform all courts that because of the indictments, the stolen deed must be returned to the Robinson-Torain family immediately.
° JUDGE GRAHAM: CONTINUE THE STAY OF EVICTION
Meanwhile, Judge Bernard Graham of the Brooklyn Surrogates Court — who has blocked all of the deed thieves' previous attempts to evict the Robinson-Torain family — must continue to stop the deed thieves' attacks. The court must stop dead in their tracks all efforts to displace this Black family from their home and the neighborhood they have built up since 1951.
Judge Graham: Do the right thing! Continue the stay of eviction in the interest of justice, while the criminal investigation and indictment of the deed thieves moves forward.
The crisis of deed theft and the threat of illegal eviction have returned to 964 Park Place — but the Robinson-Torain family and the movement have beaten it back before, and we'll win again.
We need justice once and for all: RETURN THE DEED TO THE ROBINSON-TORAIN FAMILY IMMEDIATELY.
We need your support in this struggle. Sign the petition and send it far and wide.
DA Gonzalez and Judge Graham: Justice at 964 Park now! No eviction. Return the deed TODAY.
///////////////////////////////////
CONTEXT: Two years ago, more than 3,900 people signed a change.org petition demanding that Judge Bernard Graham of the Brooklyn Surrogates Court block the eviction of the Robinson-Torain family from their home. With your solidarity, we won that struggle.
Meanwhile, in Brooklyn Supreme Court, the Robinson-Torain family's deed forgery case moved forward: and indeed, in April of 2025, Judge Heela Capell ruled that "a forged deed is a nullity that has no legal effect from the outset," denying the deed thieves' attempts to throw out the family's case, and ruling that the family's deed forgery case should continue.
However, the deep-pocketed banks and the deed thieves asked Judge Capell to revisit her decision. Judge Capell reversed herself in January and July of 2026, and is now attempting to allow the deed thieves off the hook. Emboldened, the deed thieves are now trying to evict the family to finally complete their theft. But we will never allow it.
It's essential that District Attorney Eric Gonzalez do what the family has been righteously demanding the DA do since the deed theft occurred in 2015: indict the deed thieves and return the deed to the family NOW.
DETAILS: The deed thieves of 964 Park are known criminals. Yariv Katz was indicted on deed theft charges in Queens and has been disbarred; Hezi Torati has been the subject of at least 17 civil actions for fraud, has been held in contempt numerous times, and was indicted in Brooklyn 15 years ago for operating phony financial services companies; Andre Soleil has been disbarred and fled the country. The fake court document that Judge Capell's decision is based on was signed only by Katz and Soleil — both of whom are now disbarred — and never by Ida Robinson, the matriarch of the Robinson-Torain family who was 93 years old at the time.
Menachem Gurevitch, the member of the deed theft ring who claims to own the family's home and is seeking to evict them, is a billionaire known as a slumlord in Connecticut, where he was charged with criminal conditions in apartment buildings.
We know the deed thieves' MO, and we know this is what played out with the forgery of the deed at 964 Park. Justice now!
HISTORY OF THE FIGHT: The deed to the Robinson-Torain family’s home was forged by a deed theft ring in 2015, and for 11 years the family has held their home – demanding justice in the face of a system that has refused them justice. Until now.
The family, the Crown Heights Tenant Union, Brooklyn Eviction Defense, and scores of working-class Brooklynites successfully defended the home against the deed thieves on their last attempt at a marshal eviction in 2022.
The Robinson-Torain family, who were the first Black family on their block of Park Place brownstones in Crown Heights in 1951, have been at the center of the fight for racial justice and communal healing for three quarters of a century.
Crown Heights is confronting the crisis of eviction and displacement of Black and working-class residents. "The neighborhood's Black population declined by 18,750 people between 2010 and 2020," reported Patch based on Census Bureau data, and "the North Crown Heights drop in Black residents was the most dramatic of any neighborhood across the five boroughs, according to City Planning." Unacceptable. We will fight back, united.
For Helen Queen Afua Robinson and her daughter Sherease Torain – and in memory of the family’s rock, Ida Robinson who passed aged 100 in late December 2023 – the fight for their home is one part of a broader healing of working-class and Black Brooklyn.
The family and the movement have one simple message: End the crime of deed theft forever; end eviction, dispossession, and the displacement of Black and working-class Brooklyn forever; return the deed to the Robinson-Torain family immediately. We shall not be moved!
DA Gonzalez: Indict the deed thieves and return the deed TODAY.
Judge Graham: Do the right thing! Block the eviction.
///////////////////////////////////
110
The Issue
NO EVICTION AT 964 PARK!
Stop the deed theft — return the stolen deed to the Robinson-Torain family now.
It's essential that District Attorney Eric Gonzalez do what the family has been righteously demanding the DA do since the deed theft occurred in 2015: indict the deed thieves and return the deed to the family NOW.
Two years after the deed thieves' last attempt at an eviction, and more than a decade into the family's fight, there is still no justice — and once again, the Robinson-Torain family is faced with the threat of illegal eviction by a ring of white-collar criminals who stole the deed to their home. But we shall not be moved!
This Thursday, August 13, 2026, lawyers for deed thieves will appear before Judge Bernard Graham in Brooklyn Surrogates Court and seek permission to evict the Robinson-Torain family from their own home at 964 Park Place in Crown Heights, Brooklyn — where the family has lived since 1951. We will never allow that illegal eviction to occur — instead, we demand justice once and for all: return the stolen deed to the Robinson-Torain family now.
WE DEMAND:
° BROOKLYN DISTRICT ATTORNEY ERIC GONZALEZ: INDICT THE DEED THIEVES
RETURN THE DEED TODAY
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez must immediately indict the deed thieves of 964 Park, and finally charge them with the crimes of forgery and deed theft.
DA Gonzalez announced a criminal investigation into the deed theft two years ago, and still nothing has been done. It is now time for DA Gonzalez to indict and convict the deed thieves.
DA Gonzalez must convene a public press conference before Thursday, August 13, 2026 to announce indictments and call on all courts, in writing, to stay any eviction proceedings, and inform all courts that because of the indictments, the stolen deed must be returned to the Robinson-Torain family immediately.
° JUDGE GRAHAM: CONTINUE THE STAY OF EVICTION
Meanwhile, Judge Bernard Graham of the Brooklyn Surrogates Court — who has blocked all of the deed thieves' previous attempts to evict the Robinson-Torain family — must continue to stop the deed thieves' attacks. The court must stop dead in their tracks all efforts to displace this Black family from their home and the neighborhood they have built up since 1951.
Judge Graham: Do the right thing! Continue the stay of eviction in the interest of justice, while the criminal investigation and indictment of the deed thieves moves forward.
The crisis of deed theft and the threat of illegal eviction have returned to 964 Park Place — but the Robinson-Torain family and the movement have beaten it back before, and we'll win again.
We need justice once and for all: RETURN THE DEED TO THE ROBINSON-TORAIN FAMILY IMMEDIATELY.
We need your support in this struggle. Sign the petition and send it far and wide.
DA Gonzalez and Judge Graham: Justice at 964 Park now! No eviction. Return the deed TODAY.
///////////////////////////////////
CONTEXT: Two years ago, more than 3,900 people signed a change.org petition demanding that Judge Bernard Graham of the Brooklyn Surrogates Court block the eviction of the Robinson-Torain family from their home. With your solidarity, we won that struggle.
Meanwhile, in Brooklyn Supreme Court, the Robinson-Torain family's deed forgery case moved forward: and indeed, in April of 2025, Judge Heela Capell ruled that "a forged deed is a nullity that has no legal effect from the outset," denying the deed thieves' attempts to throw out the family's case, and ruling that the family's deed forgery case should continue.
However, the deep-pocketed banks and the deed thieves asked Judge Capell to revisit her decision. Judge Capell reversed herself in January and July of 2026, and is now attempting to allow the deed thieves off the hook. Emboldened, the deed thieves are now trying to evict the family to finally complete their theft. But we will never allow it.
It's essential that District Attorney Eric Gonzalez do what the family has been righteously demanding the DA do since the deed theft occurred in 2015: indict the deed thieves and return the deed to the family NOW.
DETAILS: The deed thieves of 964 Park are known criminals. Yariv Katz was indicted on deed theft charges in Queens and has been disbarred; Hezi Torati has been the subject of at least 17 civil actions for fraud, has been held in contempt numerous times, and was indicted in Brooklyn 15 years ago for operating phony financial services companies; Andre Soleil has been disbarred and fled the country. The fake court document that Judge Capell's decision is based on was signed only by Katz and Soleil — both of whom are now disbarred — and never by Ida Robinson, the matriarch of the Robinson-Torain family who was 93 years old at the time.
Menachem Gurevitch, the member of the deed theft ring who claims to own the family's home and is seeking to evict them, is a billionaire known as a slumlord in Connecticut, where he was charged with criminal conditions in apartment buildings.
We know the deed thieves' MO, and we know this is what played out with the forgery of the deed at 964 Park. Justice now!
HISTORY OF THE FIGHT: The deed to the Robinson-Torain family’s home was forged by a deed theft ring in 2015, and for 11 years the family has held their home – demanding justice in the face of a system that has refused them justice. Until now.
The family, the Crown Heights Tenant Union, Brooklyn Eviction Defense, and scores of working-class Brooklynites successfully defended the home against the deed thieves on their last attempt at a marshal eviction in 2022.
The Robinson-Torain family, who were the first Black family on their block of Park Place brownstones in Crown Heights in 1951, have been at the center of the fight for racial justice and communal healing for three quarters of a century.
Crown Heights is confronting the crisis of eviction and displacement of Black and working-class residents. "The neighborhood's Black population declined by 18,750 people between 2010 and 2020," reported Patch based on Census Bureau data, and "the North Crown Heights drop in Black residents was the most dramatic of any neighborhood across the five boroughs, according to City Planning." Unacceptable. We will fight back, united.
For Helen Queen Afua Robinson and her daughter Sherease Torain – and in memory of the family’s rock, Ida Robinson who passed aged 100 in late December 2023 – the fight for their home is one part of a broader healing of working-class and Black Brooklyn.
The family and the movement have one simple message: End the crime of deed theft forever; end eviction, dispossession, and the displacement of Black and working-class Brooklyn forever; return the deed to the Robinson-Torain family immediately. We shall not be moved!
DA Gonzalez: Indict the deed thieves and return the deed TODAY.
Judge Graham: Do the right thing! Block the eviction.
///////////////////////////////////
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Petition created on August 10, 2026