Wealthy widow’s victory as America’s nastiest alleged squatter is turfed from $13m townhouse she made her own after husband’s sudden death
This is the moment a wealthy widow finally regained access to her late husband’s New York City townhouse after months of legal wrangling with his housekeeper, who is accused of squatting in the property.
Sarah Shalev, 45, was seen surveying the $13 million home on Manhattan’s Upper East Side this week – the same day the alleged squatter was due in court.
Neurologist Shalev’s estranged husband, businessman Craig Schmeizer, died suddenly in November from blunt force trauma.
He had been living in the five-bedroom property at 111 East 81st Street with his housekeeper, Hilarie Page, who was later sued by his surviving family for allegedly refusing them access to the home.
Page – who the Daily Mail exposed as a repeat offender with a history of legal problems and evictions – was served with an eviction notice in mid-March and vacated soon after.
She was due at Housing Court on Tuesday but failed to appear.
Peter Kolodony, the attorney representing the family trust, was present and told the Daily Mail outside the courthouse: ‘My client is back in and did what had to be done.’
When approached outside the Upper East Side home, Shalev declined to comment.
Sarah Shalev, 45, surveys her dead husband’s $13 million home in Manhattan after finally kicking out his old housekeeper
Neurologist Shalev’s estranged husband, businessman Craig Schmeizer, died suddenly in November from blunt force trauma
Page has allegedly been holed up inside this $13.2 million Upper East Side townhouse where she worked as a live-in housekeeper
The development follows five months of legal battling.
Shalev is trustee of the two trusts that control the LLC in charge of the home and is identified in court papers as the personal representative under Schmeizer’s will.
Page, who could not be reached for comment, moved into the townhouse at some point following the couple’s separation.
According to the original complaint: ‘Page was a licensee occupying space in the Building with the permission of Schmeizer.’
But the ‘said license of Page to occupy space in the Building was terminated by virtue of the death of Schmeizer.’
The estate alleges that since Schmeizer’s death, Page refused to allow Shalev or representatives access to the building.
In November, shortly after Schmeizer’s death, Shalev called Page and was met with hostility, according to the complaint.
‘She was extremely hostile, told me she was not going to leave the house because Craig was dead and it was clear that I would not be allowed into the Building,’ Shalev said in the filing.
In February, after Page ignored legal letters, Shalev and a legal representative attempted to enter, the document shows.
When no one responded, a locksmith was called.
Shalev (with her late husband) is trustee of the two trusts that control the LLC and is identified in court papers as the personal representative under Schmeizer’s will
Schmeizer and Shalev in 2014
According to the complaint, once the door was opened, Page ‘ran toward the door, screaming,’ and both sides contacted police, who ultimately instructed the estate’s representatives to leave.
The Daily Mail has reviewed dozens of court documents showing she has been legally evicted from at least three homes prior to the latest saga.
We also spoke to multiple people behind those evictions.
In one case, a former friend took legal action after she refused to leave his apartment, where she had been staying on his couch.
In 2017, photographer Terry Niefield, now 83, said he reluctantly allowed Page to stay at his one-bedroom loft in Chelsea after she was evicted from her home in Murray Hill.
The arrangement was meant to be temporary, he said, but court documents claim she refused to leave for more than two years.
Niefield said Page began inserting herself into his daily life, joining him and his girlfriend for meals – putting strain on the relationship. He later described her as ‘nasty’ and a ‘parasite.’ A court ordered eviction was later carried out.
Page, 66, was due in Housing Court this week but failed to show
Terry Niefield, 83, said he invited Page to crash on the couch of his one-bedroom Chelsea apartment and she refused to leave for two years
Another landlord, who asked not to be named, told the Mail Page stopped paying rent and verbally abused her when she tried to evict her, leaving her feeling trapped in her own home.
She was eventually served an eviction order and forced to leave.
Even Page’s friends have described her as ‘ice cold.’
Page was arrested in September 2025 on assault and harassment-related charges stemming from an incident at the townhouse that left her boss, Craig Schmeizer injured, according to the New York Post.
A photo obtained by the Post showed blood dripping from around his left ear onto his white shirt.
The charges were later dropped, and the NYPD told the Daily Mail: ‘The investigation regarding his death is closed. There was no criminality.’
