WestView readers have been following the story of Tom Doyle, who lived for 55 years at 69 Horatio Street with his husband, Bill Cornwell. Bill died, at age 88, in 2014 and, unfortunately, left a will that wasn’t properly witnessed. In swooped rarely heard-from nieces and nephews, eager to grab a share of the $7 million townhouse.
In March and again in September, WestView reported that Tom had gone to court to challenge the greedy crew. On October 24th, having seen the WestView articles, the New York Times ran with the story and filled a full page with some wonderful photos. Support for Tom flowed in from all over the world. On October 25th, the London-based Daily Mail ran a story quoting long passages from WestView. The Times drew out one of the callous nieces, who told the Times that her uncle didn’t really “love” Tom Doyle; she asserted that the two were just pals. That statement is nothing more than blatant, greedy homophobia.
The Times article revealed that the townhouse was in contract, with a provision that allowed Tom Doyle to be kicked out in five years—at age 90!
On October 28th, Tom’s lawyer, Arthur Schwartz (your author), filed an Order to Show Cause, seeking a Temporary Restraining Order blocking the sale. Soon, Surrogate Judge Nora Anderson will be heard from. Hopefully, justice will be done.
UP AGAINST BLATANT, GREEDY HOMOPHOBIA: Tom Doyle (above), an illustrator, continues the fight to keep his home after the death of his husband, Bill Cornwell. Photo courtesy of Arthur Schwartz.
—Arthur Z. Schwartz
